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SECOND
COMING
DIDLE
WILLIAM E.
BIEDERWOLF
The Christian who wants to learn
more about what the Bible itself says
concerning the last days on Planet Earth
and the Second Coming of Christ
will appreciate this book. Included is
the complete text of every Bible verse,
from Genesis to Revelation, that
directly or indirectly deals with the
Second Coming, plus the enlightening
commentary of hundreds of respected Bible
scholars. The Second Coming Bible
is an impartial in-depth study that will
be genuinely helpful to anyone
who desires to explore the prophetic
teachings of the Bible concerning the last
days and Christ’s Second Coming.
vvniiam E. Biederwolf was a
well known and respected evangelist
who also served as president of
the Winona Lake School of Theology.
SECOND
COMING
DIDLE
WILLIAM E.
BIEDERWOLF
THE COMPLETE TEXT OF EVERY
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE CONCERNED WITH
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
PLUS COMMENTARY ON EACH VERSE
BAKER BOOK HOUSE
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 49506
ISBN: 0-8010-0560-4
Reprinted 1972
by Baker Book House Company
from the original printing
entitled The Millenium Bible.
The Bible text used in this work
is the American Standard Version.
Cover painting and cover design
by Martha Bentley, staff artist,
Dickinson Brothers, Inc.
Printed and bound
in the United States of America
by Dickinson Brothers, Inc.,
Grand Rapids, Michigan
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION
This volume is not designed, and will prove uninterest¬
ing, as mere cursory reading. It is intended the rather, as
indicated on its title page, as a help to those who desire to
study for themselves as to what the Scriptures really do
testify concerning the important event known as the
Second Coming of the Lord.
The volume is neither a Pre-millennial, nor a Post-
millennial, nor a Non-millennial one. It is an impartial
study from the standpoint of pure exegesis of such parts of
the Old and New Testaments as deal with the glorious
appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It has
been born out of the author's own experience and has con¬
sumed by far the larger part of ten years of his time in the
course of its preparation.
The author confesses to a ministry of twenty years with¬
out a single reference to the coming of the Lord. Other
lines of study and his own ignorance of Scripture testimony
as to the theme now under investigation furnished him
with an excuse of seemingly sufficient validity, in those
days, for his mental reserve as to this matter, which he has
later found to be so highly important and so extremely
vital.
A series of doctrinal sermons were prepared and the
nature of the volume demanded that the Second Coming of
Christ should find a place in it. But the writer, better
than anyone else, of course, knew how shallow his knowl¬
edge of the subject really was, and at that time was formed
the determination not to speak until at least he could speak
with something of an authority born out of an honest and
thorough investigation of the matter at issue.
The study was undertaken with no thought of commit¬
ting the manuscript to the printer. But as the volume of
the work, its intricacy and ofttimes its perplexity began to
assert themselves, there came the conviction that the charac¬
ter of the volume, regardless of any merit the author's own
conclusions might have, would be helpful to others who
were desirous of more than the usual superficial knowledge
of the subject, but who might not have the necessary time
for independent investigation nor the privilege of dealing
in the original text of the Word. We have been encour¬
aged in this by a very large number of ministerial and lay
friends.
The work has been prepared not so much with the view
of setting forth the author’s own conclusions, although
this, as a rule, as been done; but with the view of setting
forth in popular, plain and concise style the arguments on
each side of any portion of Scripture bearing upon the sub¬
ject in hand, where difference of opinion as to its meaning
exists, and thus make it possible for every interested reader
to intelligently form his oivn conclusions as to what such
Scriptures doubtless teach.
We have included in our study the ancient covenants
and the promises made by Jehovah to Israel and the many
prophecies concerning Israel’s future only because they are
closely related in the minds of so many to the events con¬
nected with the coming again of our Lord.
The volume has been not a little reduced from its original
draft, and an endeavor has been made at all times to avoid
unnecessary technicality. While the work is presented as a
study and cannot therefore at times avoid being somewhat
difficult because of the nature of the subject, the author has
earnestly tried to keep in view a style and a content such as
the average mind can with conscientious application ap¬
preciate.
There is always great satisfaction in knowing what the
various scholarly interpreters have held concerning any
Scripture testimony at issue, and one’s own belief is natur¬
ally confirmed and strengthened when he knows how large
a number of the keenest expositors stand with him in his
views. For this reason we have quoted freely and referred
copiously to some five hundred or more authorities through¬
out the work. The mention and repetition of these names,
if written in full, would too largely encumber the volume
and we have therefore used the briefest possible abbreviation
of these names. For the convenience of the student we have
placed these abbreviations with the names they represent in
alphabetical order at the end of the volume. Whenever the
expression, "our text", is used the reference is, of course, to
the text employed throughout the entire work, being that
of the American Revised Version, used with its accompany¬
ing notes through the courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Sons.
Some may wonder why so many verses not dealing
directly with the subject in hand have been interpreted
along the way. Our answer is that we have given a run¬
ning comment to the entire passage containing such refer¬
ence as may be pertinent to the subject, in order that the
student may the easier understand the setting of the refer¬
ence in question, inasmuch as this is as a rule essential to
an intelligent grasp of the subject matter under discussion.
The work has been a source of keen satisfaction to the
author. It has been at times difficult and laborious, but it
has proven so richly remunerative that he has been already
more than repaid. If now this humble effort to magnify
the grace of God, so richly bestowed upon those who love
His appearing, shall prove to be equally helpful to others,
it will make him doubly grateful for the rare opportunity
and the high privilege of giving himself to so sacred a task
and for His precious approval, thus attested, we earnestly
pray as this volume is released to those who may find com¬
fort and inspiration in its study.
William Edward Biederwolf.
THE NAMES OF
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS
ARRANGED IN THEIR CUSTOMARY ORDER
THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
GENESIS
I. Kings
Ecclesiastes
Obadiah
Exodus
II. Kings
Song of Solomon
Jonah
Leviticus
I. Chronicles
Isaiah
Micah
Numbers
II. Chronicles
Jeremiah
Nahum
Deuteronomy
Ezra
Lamentations
Habakkuk
Joshua
Judges
Nehemiah
Esther
Ezekiel
Daniel
Zephaniah
Haggai
Ruth
Job
Hosea
I. Samuel
Psalms
Joel
Zechariah
II. Samuel
Proverbs
Amos
Malachi
THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
ST. MATTHEW
St. Mark
St. Luke
St. John
The Acta
Romans
I. Corinthians
II. Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippian9
Colossians
I. Thessalonians
II. Thessalonians
I. Timothy
II. Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
I. Peter
II. Peter
I. John
II. John
III. John
Jude
Revelation
NAMES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED
ACTS
Habakkuk
Amos
Haggai
Chronicles (I.)
Hebrews
Chronicles (II.)
Hosea
Colossians
Isaiah
Corinthians (I.)
James
Corinthians (II.)
Jeremiah
Daniel
Job
Deuteronomy
Joel
Ecclesiastes
John
Ephesians
John (I.)
Esther
John (II.)
Exodus
John (III.)
Ezekiel
Jonah
Ezra
Joshua
Galatians
Jude
Genesis
Judges
Kings (I.)
Proverbs
Kings (II.)
Psalms
Lamentations
Revelation
Leviticus
Romans
Luke
Ruth
Malachi
Samuel (I.)
Mark
Samuel (II.)
Matthew
Song of Solomon
Micah
Thessalonians (I.)
Nahum
Thessalonians (11.)
Nehemiah
Timothy (I.)
Numbers
Timothy (II.)
Obadiah
Titus
Peter (I.)
Zechariah
Peter (II.)
Philemon
Philippians
Zephaniah
THE BOOK OF
GENESIS
(«-B. C. 1689)
CHAPTER TWELVE
Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father’s house,
unto the land that I will show thee:
2 and I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great; and be thou a bless¬
ing : 3 and I will bless them that bless
thee, and him that curseth thee will I
curse: and in thee shall all the families
of the earth be blessed.
Vers. 1-3. The ABRAHAMIC COVENANT FORMED.
'7 will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I
curse." This seems to have been wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the
dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have perse¬
cuted the Jews, and the favor of God seems to have been with those who
have given the Jews protection. Will the future still more remarkably
fulfill this prediction? (Deut. 30.7; Isa. 14.1,2; Joel 3.1-8; Matt. 25.40,
45.)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
14 And Jehovah said unto Abram,
after that Lot was separated from
him. Lift up now thine eyes, and look
from the place where thou art, north¬
ward and southward and eastward
and westward: 15 for all the land
which thou seest^ to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed for ever. 1 6 And I
will make thy seed as the dust of the
earth: so that if a man can number
the dust of the earth, then may thy
seed also be numbered. 1 7 Arise, walk
through the land in the length of it
and in the breadth of it: for unto thee
will 1 give it. 18 And Abram moved
his tent, and came and dwelt by the
oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron,
and built there an altar unto Jehovah.
Vers. 14-18. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT CONFIRMED.
Vcr. 15. "for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and
to thy seed forever." Does the latter part of this promise pertain to Abra¬
ham's literal seed or to his spiritual seed?
Says Keil, “The possession of the land is promised forever. The
promise of God is unchangeable. As the seed of Abraham was to exist
before God forever, so Canaan was to be its everlasting possession. But
this applied not to the lineal posterity of Abraham, to his seed according
to the flesh, but to the true spiritual seed, which embraced the promise in
faith and held it in pure, believing heart. The promise therefore neither
prevented the expulsion of the unbelieving seed from the land of Canaan,
nor guaranteed to existing Jews a return to the earthly Palestine after their
conversion to Christ."
Scofield, on the other hand, remarks, “The gift of the land is modified
by prophecies of three dispossessions and restorations (Gen. 15.13, 14, 16;
9
GENESIS
Jer. 25.11,12; Deut. 28.62-65; 30.1-3). Two dispossessions and restor¬
ations have been accomplished. Israel is now in the third dispersion,
from which she, the literal seed of Abraham, will be restored to Palestine
at the Second Coming of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant
(Deut. 33.3; Jer. 23.5-8; Ezk. 37.21-25; Lu. 1.30-33; Acts 15.14-17)."
Ver. 16. “I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth”, —To
Abram, accustomed to the petty tribes that then roamed over the pastures
of Mesopatamia and Palestine, a people who should fill the land of Canaan
would seem innumerable.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
15 And the angel of Jehovah called
unto Abraham a second time out of
heaven, 16 and said. By myself have I
sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, 17 that in
blessing I will bless thee, and in mul¬
tiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heavens, and as the sand
which is upon the sea-shore: and thy
seed shall possess the gate of his ene¬
mies: 18 and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because
thou hast obeyed my voice.
Vers. 15-18. The Abrahamic Covenant Again Confirmed.
Ver. 17. “thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies ",—i. e., be
masters and rulers of their cities and territories. (K. Mu.)
Lange says, "But the gate here points to a deeper meaning. The
hostile world has a gate or gates in its susceptibilities through which the
believing Israel should enter (Ps. 24.7-9), and the following words prove
that this is the sense here."
Ver. 18. " and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed”, —This great promise was first given without reference to his
character (Chap. 12.3) ; now it is confirmed to him because he has proven
himself to be actually righteous after the inward man.
Campbell Morgan says, "This prophecy has never been realized,
except to some extent in the first advent of Christ, but it awaits complete
and very literal fulfillment in the Millennium age. All Gentile nations
are to come into a place of blessing as a result of this restored nationality
of Israel. The same truth is taught in Isa. 56.6,7."
"The conquests of the seed of Abraham", says Gerlach, "are those
of the Christian Church", and, says Jacobus, "the multiplying of the seed
looks beyond mere natural posterity to spiritual progeny".
Again it is a question of literal or spiritual fulfillment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
By many Isaac is taken as a type of the Bridegroom (Christ) who
goes out to meet and receive His Bride (verse 63 and I Thess. 4.14-16),
the Church; and the servant is a type of the Spirit bringing the Bride to
the meeting with the Bridegroom. (I Thess. 4.14-16.)
10
LEVITICUS
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
3 sojourn in this land, and I will
be with thee, and will bless thee; for
unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will
give all these lands, and I will establish
the oath which I sware unto Abraham
thy father; 4 and I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of heaven, and will
give unto thy seed all these lands; and
in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed;
23 And he went up from thence to
Beer-Sheba. 24 And Jehovah appeared
unto him the same night, and said, I
am the God of Abraham thy father;
fear not, for I am with thee, and will
bless thee, and multiply thy seed for
my servant Abraham’s sake.
Vers. 3, 4, 23, 24. The Abrahamic Covenant Confirmed to Isaac.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
13 And, behold, Jehovah stood
1 above it, and said, I am Jehovah, the
God of Abraham thy father, and the
God of Isaac; the land whereon thou
liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed; 14 and thy seed shall be as the
lOr, beside him.
dust of the earth, and thou shalt
2 spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the
south; and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be
blessed.
2Heb., break forth.
Vers. 13, 14. The Abrahamic Covenant Confirmed to Jacob.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
9 And God appeared unto Jacob
again, when he came from Paddanaram,
and blessed him. 10 And God said
unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy
name shall not be called any more
Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:
and he called his name Israel. 11 And
God said unto him, I am God Al¬
mighty: be fruitful and multiply; a
nation and a company of nations shall
be of thee, and kings shall come out of
thy loins; 12 and the land which I
gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee
I will give it, and to thy seed after
thee will I give the land.
Vers. 9-12. The Abrahamic Covenant Confirmed Again to Jacob.
THE BOOK OF
LEVITICUS
(B. C. 1491)
CHAPTER TWO
11 No meal-offering, which ye shall nor any honey, as an offering made by
offer unto Jehovah, shall be made with fire unto Jehovah,
leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven,
Ver. 11 . Leaven, the Apt Symbol of Corruption.
Some think the reason why leaven and honey were excluded from
the offerings unto the Lord is that they were used in the idolatrous rites
11
LEVITICUS
of the heathen. The chief, and perhaps the sole reason, however, is un¬
doubtedly their fermenting quality. Honey was anciently used in the
preparation of vinegar. Fermentation has ever been recognized as "an apt
symbol of the working of corruption in the human heart," as Adam Clark
says, both in Scripture (Lu. 12.1; I Cor. 5.8; Gal. 5.9), and among the
ancients generally, and hence was unsuitable for the altar of Jehovah.
The leavened bread of Chap. 7.1 3 was simply used for the sacrificial
meal and was not placed upon the altar at all, and so there is no conflict
there with the prohibition of our verse and of Ex. 23.18 and 34.25.
Leavened bread was common at feasts and was offered with the peace-offer¬
ing besides the usual accompaniments of the other sacrifices. Christ is our
peace-offering, and in Chap. 7.12 we have this in type, and so leaven is of
course excluded, as in Him there is no sin; but in verse 13 of this same
chapter the one bringing the peace-offering is giving thanks for his partici¬
pation in it, and so may it not be that leaven seems here to fitly signify, that
though having peace with God through the work of the Sinless One, there
is still sin in him who presents the offering. (Amos. 4.5.)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
18 And he shall go out unto the
altar that is before Jehovah, and make
atonement for it.
Ver. 18. The Coming from the Heavenly Sanctuary Set Forth
in Type.
This verse, and in fact the whole chapter, should be read in connec¬
tion with Hebrews 9.
Scofield says, "Dispensationallv, for Israel, this is yet future; the
High Priest is still in the Holiest. When He comes out to His ancient
people they will be converted and restored (Rom. 11.23-27; Zech. 12.10,
12; 13.1 ; Rev. 1.7). Meantime, believers of this dispensation, as priests
(I Pet. 2.9), enter into the holiest where He is (Heb. 10.19-22). It will
be at His second coming that He will come forth, the Great High Priest
returning unto His people as Lord of lords and King of kings."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
34 Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of
this seventh month is the feast of taber¬
nacles for seven days unto Jehovah.
J Heb., booths
Ver. 34. The Kingdom-Sabbath Set Forth in Type.
Just as the Lord’s Supper for the Church is both memorial and pro¬
phetic ("in remembrance of me," and "ye do show forth the Lord’s death
until He come"), so likewise is the feast of tabernacles a memorial as to
redemption of Israel out of, Egypt (verse 43), and, says Scofield, "it is
prophetic as to the kingdom-rest of Israel after her regathering and restor¬
ation, when the feast again becomes memorial, not for Israel alone, but
for all nations (Zech. 14.16-21)."
12
LEVITICUS
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Vers. 14-39. THE CURSE FOR APOSTACY AND CONTEMPT OF THE LAW.
The divine threats contained in this chapter embrace the whole of
Israel’s history. They are not to be thought of as in historical or tem¬
poral succession; they were not to multiply continuously, but were in each
case to correspond to the amount of the sin. The subject is the general
apostacy of the nation and not the sins of individuals. "There are five
degrees," says Gerlach, "in the ever seven times more severe punishment."
14 But if ye will not hearken unto
me, and will not do all these command'
ments; 15 and if ye shall reject my
statutes, and if your soul abhor mine
ordinances, so that ye will not do all
my commandments, but break my cove¬
nant: 16 1 also will do this unto you:
I will appoint terror over you, even
consumption and fever, that shall con¬
sume the eyes, and make the soul to
pine away: and ye shall sow your seed
in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
1 7 And I will set my face against you,
and ye shall be smitten before your ene :
mies; they that hate you shall rule over
you; and ye shall flee when none pur¬
sued] you.
Vers. 14-17, The PUNISHMENT IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
If Israel gave herself up to ungodliness, then Jehovah would appoint
over them "terror," a general notion particularized in verses 16 and 17 by
disease, famine and defeat.
18 And if ye will not yet for these
things hearken unto me, then I will
chastise you seven times more for your
sins. 1 9 And I will break the pride of
your power: and I will make yout
heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;
20 and your strength shall be spent in
vain; for your land shall not yield its
increase, neither shall the trees of the
land yield their fruit.
Vers. 18-20. The PUNISHMENT IN THE SECOND DEGREE.
If the punishments already mentioned did not cause the nation to
keep the statutes of the Lord, then they would be punished still more
severely, even with a sevenfold measure.
"seven times ",—Seven is at once the number of perfection, indicat¬
ing the full strength of the visitation, and also the Sabbatical number,
reminding the people of the broken covenant.
In the verses before us the sevenfold punishment consists in the bar¬
renness of the land. The earth was to be hard and dry as metal and not
a drop of rain was to fall from heaven to moisten it.
21 And if ye walk contrary unto I will send the beast of the field among
me, and will not hearken unto me, I V ou ’ wh ' ch , sha11 *°b you of your chil-
. , dren, and destroy your cattle, and make
will bring seven times more plagues up- you f ew num ber; and your ways
on you according to your sins. 22 And shall become desolate.
Vers. 21-22. The Punishment in the Third Degree.
By beasts of prey Jehovah would destroy their cattle and by barren¬
ness the nation would become small so that the highways would be deserted.
"This is an exact picture of the present state of the Holy Land," says
Jamieson, "which has long lain in a state of desolation, brought on by the
sins of the ancient Jews." (See Isa. 33.8 and Zeph. 3.6.)
13
LEVITICUS
23 And if by these things ye will not ered together within your cities: and I
be reformed ’unto me, but will walk will send the pestilence among you; and
contrary unto me: 24 then will I also ye shall be delivered into the hand of
walk contrary unto you; and I will the enemy. 26 When I break your
smite you, even I, seven times for your staff of bread, ten women shall bake
sins. 25 And I will bring a sword up- your bread in one oven, and they shall
on you, that shall execute the vengeance deliver your bread again by weight; and
of the covenant; and ye shall be gath- ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
’Or, by
Vers. 23-26. The PUNISHMENT IN THE FOURTH DEGREE.
If they still rose up in hostility to the Lord they were to be punished
sevenfold with war, plague, and hunger.
By "the vengeance of the covenant” is meant the punishment inflicted
for a breach of the same, the severity of which, says Keil, “corresponded
to the greatness of the covenant blessings forfeited by a faithless apostacy.’’
The means of sustenance would become so scarce that ten women
could bake their bread in a single oven, whereas in ordinary times every
woman required an oven for her self.
2 7 And if yc will not for all this abhor you. 31 And I will make your
hearken unto me, but walk contrary un cities a waste, and will bring your sanc-
to me; 28 then I will walk contrary tuaries unto desolation, and I will not
unto you in wrath; and I also will chas- smell the savor of your sweet odors,
tise you seven times for your sins. 29 32 And I will bring the land into deso-
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, lation; and your enemies that dwell
and the flesh of your daughters shall ye therein shall be astonished at it. 3 3 And
eat. 30 And I will destroy your high you will I scatter among the nations,
places, and cut down your sun-images, and I will draw out the sword after
and cast your dead bodies upon the ycru: and your land shall be a desola-
bodies of your idols; and my soul shall tion, and your cities shall be a waste.
Vers. 27-33. The Punishment in the Fifth and Severest Degree.
Verse 29 refers to a fact which literally occurred in Samaria during
the period of the Syrians (II Kings 6.28,29), and in Jerusalem during the
time of the Chaldeans (Lam. 2.20; 4.10), and in the most appalling
manner during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus in A. D. 70.
The judgment is then more minutely described in four leading feat¬
ures: the idolatrous abominations were to be overthrown (verse 30), the
towns and sanctuaries were to be destroyed (verse 31). the land was to be
devastated (verse 32), and the people were to be dispersed among the
heathen (verse 33).
The cities of Israel were made waste (verse 3 1) by the forced removal
of the people during and long after the captivity. It is realized to even a
far greater extent now.
Jehovah, in verse 33, says He will draw out a sword after them; i. e..
He will drive them away with a drawn sword, and scatter them to all the
winds of heaven. For the story of these deportations look at Jewish
history all the way from Alexander to Hadrian.
34 Then shall the land enjoy its sab- had not in your sabbaths, when ye
baths, as long as it lieth desolate, and dwelt upon it. 3 6 And as for them that
ye are in your enemies’ land; even then are left of you, I will send a faintness
shall the land rest, and enjoy its sab- into their heart in the lands of their
baths. 35 As long as it lieth desolate it enemies; and the sound of a driven leaf
shall have rest, even the rest which it shall chase them; and they shall flee, as
14
NUMBERS
one fleeth from the sword; and they
shall fall when none pursueth. 37 And
they shall stumble one upon another, as
it were before the sword, when none
pursueth; and ye shall have no power
to stand before your enemies. 38 And
ye shall perish among the nations, and
the land of your enemies shall eat you
up. 39 And they that are left of you
shall pine away in their iniquity in your
enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities
of their fathers shall they pine away
with them.
Vers. 34-39. The Effect of These Punitive Visitations.
Verses 34 and 35 express the restorative effect upon the land. It
would enjoy the sabbaths of which it had been deprived by the avarice
and apostacy of the people—weekly and yearly. It would be allowed
now to rest throughout the duration of the captivity, seventy years, in
fact.
Verses 36 and 39 describe in fearful terms the effect upon the remnant
who should escape immediate destruction. (See Num. 13.32 and Ezek.
36.13.)
40 And they shall confess their in¬
iquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,
in their trespass which they trespassed
against me, and also that, because they
walked contrary unto me, 41 I also
walked contrary unto them, and brought
them into the land of their enemies: if
then their uncircumcised heart be hum¬
bled, and they then accept of the punish¬
ment of their iniquity; 42 then will I
remember my covenant with Jacob; and
also my covenant with Isaac, and also
my covenant with Abraham will I re¬
member; and I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left by them,
and shall enjoy its sabbaths, while it
lieth desolate without them; and they
shall accept of the punishment of their
iniquity; because, even because they re¬
jected mine ordinances, and their soul
abhorred my statutes. 44 And yet for
all that, when they are in the land of
their enemies, I will not reject them,
neither will I abhor them, to destroy
them utterly, and to break my cove¬
nant with them; for I am Jehovah their
God; 45 but I will for their sakes re¬
member the covenant of their ancestors,
whom I brought forth out of the land
of Egypt in the sight of the nations,
that I might be their God: I am
Jehovah.
46 These are the statutes and ordi¬
nances and laws, which Jehovah made
between him and the children of Israel
in mount Sinai by Moses.
Vers. 40-46. The Abrahamic Covenant Still Endures.
Upon repentance and obedience He would renew again this Covenant
and gather them again out of the heathen and adopt them as His nation.
THE BOOK OF
NUMBERS
(B. C. 1490
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
14 And now, behold, I go unto my
people: come, and I will advertise thee
what this people shall do to thy people
in the latter days.
15 And he took up his parable, and
said,
B. C. 1451)
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye 1 was closed
saith;
16 He saith, who heareth the words of
God,
‘Or, is opened
15
NUMBERS
And knoweth the knowledge of the
Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes
open:
1 7 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of
Jacob,
And a scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners
of Moab,
And break down all the sons of
tumult.
18 And Edom shall be a possession.
Seir also shall be a possession, ujho
ujere his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
19 And out of Jacob shall one have
dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from
the city.
23 And he took up his parable and
said,
Alas, who shall live when God doeth
this?
24 But ships shall come from the
coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and
shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.
Vers. 14-19. The VICTORIOUS SUPREMACY OF ISRAEL'S MESSIANIC
Days Foretold.
Balaam's fourth prophecy is distinguished from the previous ones by
the fact that according to verse 14 it is occupied exclusively with the future
and foretells the victorious supremacy of Israel over all her foes and the
destruction of all the powers of the world.
The Jews always held that this prophecy received its preliminary
fulfillment in David but that it pointed farther on to the Messiah in whom
the kingdom was to reach perfection and who was to destroy all the enemies
of Israel.
Ver. 17. The prophecy commences with a picture from 4 ‘the latter
days’ (verse 14), which rises up before the mental eye of the seer. Says
Gosman, “ ' The latter days for Moses and Balaam could only be when
the strifes and hindrances should be removed, the enemies overcome. These
days for them began with the line of David. The prophecy then received
its preliminary and partial fulfillment. But that fulfillment was only
relatively perfect, since the entire opposing powers to the people of God
were not yet destroyed. There remained yet a future and a wider fulfill¬
ment. The ' latter days were not yet complete.”
“/ see”, —A prophetic insight like that of Abraham.
“him”, —We think Jamieson is wrong in referring this pronoun to
Israel. The sentence extends rather in its typical significance to the time
of the kings of Israel, but still farther on to the time of the ideal king.
“but not now ”,—i. e., not as having already appeared.
“but not nigh”, —i. e., not to appear immediately, but to come forth
out of Israel in the far distant future.
“a star out of Jacob”, —This refers, says Jamieson, primarily to
David, but secondarily and pre-eminently to the Messiah.
“If there could be any doubt,” says Keil, “that the rising star repre¬
sented the appearance of a glorious ruler or king, this doubt would be
entirely removed by the parallel, ‘a sceptre shall arise out of Israel’.” This
ruler would destroy all the enemies of Israel.
"corners of Moab”, —This expression is equivalent to the two sides
of Moab, i. e., Moab from one end to the other. It is an expression that
is often put for the whole country.
16
NUMBERS
"a// the sons of tumult ",—i. e., those rising up tumultuously against
Israel, like the Moabites who were men of wild, warlike confusion.
Ver. 18. Edom and Seir are to be taken by this ruler who is to arise.
They were to become his possession, and Israel's through him, by reason of
which possession Israel shall become empowered and do valiantly. Edom
is the name of the people and Seir the name of the country. The fulfill¬
ment of this prophecy began with the subjugation of the Edomites by
David, but it will not be completed until the " latter days ” when all the
enemies of God and his Church will be made the footstool of Christ. Keil
remarks, "Edom, as the leading foe of the kingdom of God, will only be
utterly destroyed when the victory of the latter over the hostile powers of
the world has been fully and finally secured."
Ver. 19. The subject of this verse is indefinite and is to be supplied
from the verb, but it is quite evident from the sense of the words that we
have to think of the ruler foretold as a star and a sceptre.
“the remnant from the city“, —Out of every city in which there is*
left a remnant of Edom it shall be destroyed. Jamieson thinks the refer¬
ence is to those who flee from the fields to the fortified cities, but we prefer,
with Lange, to think of the fugitives fleeing from the captured cities. The
explanation of Ewald which refers the city to Jerusalem is forced and
cannot be sustained from the parallelism.
The prophecy closes with single sentences foretelling the general de¬
struction of-all heathen powers.
Ver. 23. This is the fourth division of the prophecy, all introduced
by the words, “he took up his parable“ , the first relating to Edom and
Moab (verses 17-19), the second to Amalek, the arch enemy of Israel
(verse 20), the third to the Kenites, who were allied to Israel (verses 21,
22) ; while in the fourth (verses 23,24) the overthrow of the great powers
of the world is predicted.
“when God doeth this?“ —Keil regards the lamentation as introduc¬
tory to the prophecy concerning Asshur (Assyria), Balaam’s own people.
Lange and Knoble, however, with perhaps better reason, think that Balaam
is still bewailing the future of Israel and explain this particular expression
as meaning, "when God appoints, establishes (see margin) Asshur to do
this", i. e., to so.afflict Israel. This disjunctive particle "But" in verse 24,
and that the fact that the judgment upon the naval power from Chittim
is not introduced with a new parable, favor the latter view.
Ver. 24. At last the universal ruin of the nations of the world
appears in the vision. The nations that were to come to humble Assyria
are not mentioned by name because this lay beyond the range of the
prophet's vision, but the reference is without doubt to the Greek and the
Roman empires.
“and he also shall come to destruction ',—The reference is not to
Asshur and Eber, but to their conquerors.
"Whatever powers might rise up in the world of peoples," says Hof¬
mann, "the heathen prophet of Jehovah sees them all fall, one through
another, and one after another; but at last he loses in the distance the power
to discern whence it is that the last which he sees rise up is to receive its
fatal blow."
17
DEUTERONOMY
"The overthrow of this last power of the world, concerning which
the prophet Daniel was the first to receive and proclaim new revelations,"
says Keil, "belongs to ‘the end of the days’ in which the star out of Jacob
is to arise upon Israel as a 'bright morning star’ (Rev. 22.16), and by the
'end of the days', both here and everywhere else, we are to understand the
Messianic era, and that not merely at its commencement, but in its entire
development, until the final completion of the kingdom of God at the
return of our Lord to judgment,"
THE BOOK OF
DEUTERONOMY
(B. C. 1451)
CHAPTER FOUR
26 I call heaven and earth to witness
against you this day, that ye shall soon
utterly perish from off the land where-
unto ye go over the Jordan to possess
it; ye shall not prolong your days upon
it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27
And Jehovah will scatter you among
the peoples, and ye shall be left few in
number among the nations, whither
Jehovah shall lead you away. 28 And
there ye shall serve gods, the work of
men's hands, wood and stone, which
neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But from thence ye shall seek Je¬
hovah thy God, and thou shalt find him,
when thou searchest after him with all
thy heart and with all thy soul. 30
When thou art in tribulation, and all
these things are come upon thee, 1 in the
latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah
thy God, and hearken unto his voice:
31 for Jehovah thy God is a merciful
God: he will not fail thee, neither de¬
stroy thee, nor forget the covenant of
thy fathers which he sware unto them.
’Or, if in the latter days thou return
Vers. 26-31. The Future Dispersions of Israel Foretold.
Vcr. 26. The dispersion was of course conditioned on their own
forgetfulness of God.
“heaven and earth *’,—These are hardly to be taken as the rational
beings dwelling in them, but they are the rather personified and repre¬
sented as capable of thought and speech. It was and is a solemn and
common form of adjuration. They were to be witness, to rise up against
Israel, not to proclaim vengeance but to bear witness that God was just in
punishing them, because He had warned them and had set before them the
choice of life and death.
Ver. 27. For the thing intended see Lev. 26.33,36,38,39; and
Deut. 28.64. From these passages it is evident that the author had in
mind not any particular dispersion; not, "the fate of the nation in the
time of the Assyrians," as Knobel says;* but rather, as Keil says, "all the
dispersions which would come upon the rebellious nation in future times,
even down to the dispersion under the Romans which still continues; so
that Moses contemplated the punishment in its fullest extent."
“and ye shall he left few in number among the nations ",—This is
hardly “few” as compared with the number of the heathen, as Schroeder
18
DEUTERONOMY
says, but rather, as Keil says, ’‘because they should so far perish through
want, persecution and suffering.”
The word scatter here is in a form that denotes a driving, urgent
pressure.
Ver. 29. Necessity will lead the holy seed, the remnant to prayer.
Ver. 30. “in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah”, —Says
Schroeder, “In the kingdom of God last times are ever times of need. The
expression has, indeed, a more or less Messianic form.”
The literal of the expression is, “at the end of the days," and does
not therefore refer merely to some future time, but the rather to the end in
contrast with the beginning; hence not the future generally, but the last
tuture (Hen.), the Messianic age of consummation. (II Pet. 3.3; Heb. 1.2;
Acts 2.17; II Tim. 3.1.) The main reference therefore is to the age of the
Messiah, which is commonly called “the latter days’, when the scattered
tribes of Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. This does not
mean, however, that a preliminary fulfillment is not to be found in the
destined close of their captivities.
Ver. 31. The Lord is always found by those who earnestly seek
Him.
“the covenant of thy fathers”, — (See Lev. 26.42-45; Gen. 17 and
26.3,4.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
64 And Jehovah will scatter thee
among all peoples, from the one end of
the earth even unto the other end of the
earth; and there thou shalt serve other
gods, which thou hast not known, thou
• nor thy fathers, even wood and stone.
65 And among these nations shalt thou
find no ease, and there shall be no rest
for the sole of thy foot: but Jehovah
will give thee there a trembling heart,
and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;
66 and thy life shall hang in doubt be¬
fore thee; and thou shalt fear night and
day, and shalt have no assurance of thy
life. 67 In the morning thou shalt say.
Would it were even! and at even thou
shalt say, Would it were morning! for
the fear of thy heart which thou shalt
fear, and for the sight of thine eyes
which thou shalt see. 68 And Jehovah
will bring thee into Egypt again with
ships, by the way whereof I said unto
thee. Thou shalt see it no more again:
and there ye shall sell yourselves unto
your enemies for bondmen and for
bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
Vers. 64-68. The Future DISPERSIONS OF ISRAEL FORETOLD.
Ver. 64. There is perhaps not a country in the world where Jews
are not to be found. The Jews have not, however, served gods of wood
and stone among the nations where they are scattered today, nor have they
so done since the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity; therefore the refer¬
ence to this in the verse shows that these earlier dispersions were also, and
perhaps primarily, included in the words of the author.
Ver. 65. When banished among these nations Israel could find no
place where it could quietly set its foot and be at peace; even a trembling
heart, a failing of the eyes (the going out of the lamp of life) and a pining
of soul was to be their heritage.
19
DEUTERONOMY
Ver. 66. “and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee", —"It will
be", says Knobel, "like some valued object, hanging by a thin thread before
thine eyes, which any moment might tear down." It will be ever hanging
in the greatest danger.
On these verses Scofield says, "How wonderfully, and with what
exact literalness, this passage has been fulfilled. Written more than 3000
years ago, in the wilderness of Moab, before the tribes had gone into the
promised land, before the nation had been constituted, these chapters con¬
tain in a prophetic form a synopsis of the entire history of the chosen
people from that day to this—closing with such a prophecy as might be
taken bodily for a description of the present-day Israel. In Russia with
her 4,000,000 Jews, everywhere they are persecuted. Again, wherever
the Jew is persecuted he is orthodox, believing that the prophecies will
be literally fulfilled in him." It is a fact that as the Jew becomes wealthy
and established in power he gradually ceases to believe in the literal fulfill¬
ment of the prophecies, and loses all desire, as is seen in the case of the
Reformed Jew, to go back to the Holy Land or to have his national life
reconstituted.
Ver. 67. They will say what is here announced because of perpetual
dread of what each day or night might bring to them.
Ver. 68. The worst is mentioned last, their being taken back into
Egypt to ignominious slavery.
“I said unto thee; thou shalt see it no more again" ,—God will cause
them to take a way which they would never have seen again if they had
been faithful in their loyalty to Him.
“in ships", —i. e., in violence, packed in slave ships and without any
possibility of escape.
“and no man shall buy you", —Says Schroeder, "Even in the slave
markets of Egypt, their look, the curse of God, would frighten the buyer
away." The clause is one which indicates the utmost contempt.
Under Titus, according to Josephus, multitudes of Jews were trans¬
ported in ships to Egypt and there sold into bondage, and also under
Hadrian Jews without number were sold. "But the word of God is not
so contracted. The curses were fulfilled in the time of the Romans in
Egypt, but they were also fulfilled in a terrible manner during the middle
ages, and are still in a course of fulfillment, though frequently less sensibly
felt." (Schultz.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The Covenant which God here makes with His people is not a new
covenant besides the one He made with them in Horeb, but it is rather a
renewed declaration of that same covenant. The conditions of the cove¬
nant they had violated, and Moses here rehearses these conditions and sum¬
mons the people to enter again into the covenant which God was now once
more making with them, in order that He might be their God and fulfill
His promises concerning them (verses 10-13). Then comes in the closing
verses the allusions to the punishments which threatened them in case of
apostacy.
20
DEUTERONOMY
CHAPTER THIRTY
1 And it shall come to pass, when
all these things are come upon thee, the
blessing and the curse, which I have set
before thee, and thou shalt call them to
mind among all the nations, whither
Jehovah thy God hath driven thee, 2 and
shall return unto Jehovah thy God, and
shall obey his voice according to all that
I command thee this day, thou and thy
children, with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul; 3 that then Jehovah thy
God will 1 turn thy captivity, and have
compassion upon thee, and will return
and gather thee from all the peoples
whither Jehovah thy God hath scat¬
tered thee. 4 If any of thine outcasts be
in the uttermost parts of heaven, from
thence will Jehovah thy God gather
thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 and Jehovah thy God will bring thee
into the land which they fathers pos¬
sessed, and thou shalt possess it; and lje
will do thee good, and multiply thee
’Or, return to
above thy fathers. 6 And Jehovah thy
God will circumcise thy heart, and the
heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, thjt thou mayest live. 7 And
Jehovah thy God will put all these
curses upon thine enemies, and on them
that hate thee, that persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the
voice of Jehovah, and do all his com¬
mandments which I command thee this
day. 9 And Jehovah thy God will make
thee plenteous in all the work of thy
hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in
the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit
of thy ground, for good: for Jehovah
will again rejoice over thee for good, as
he rejoiced over thy fathers; 10 if thou
shalt obey the voice of Jehovah thy
God, to keep his commandments and
his statutes which are written in this
book of the law; if thou turn unto Je¬
hovah thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul.
Vers. 1-10. The Promise of Restoration Declared.
Ver. 1. “the blessing and the curse", —i. e., the blessing for the obed¬
ient and the curse for the obdurate. Even in the direst times and deepest
apostacy on the part of the nation there would always be a holy seed to
which the blessings pertained, as well as the incorrigible majority upon
whom the curse exhausted itself.
Ver. 2. (See Chap. 4.29.)
•
Ver. 3. “will turn thy captivity ",—This does not mean to bring
back the captives (Kn. Ges. Mic.), in as much as this is said in what
follows to be the consequence of the turning of their captivity; while fur¬
thermore the form of the verb will not permit this interpretation.
It must be taken either in a figurative sense, to turn the imprisonment,
i. e., to put an end to the captivity (K. Mei.), or be taken, as Hengstenberg
and Schroeder take it, in the sense of the marginal rendering of our text,
"The return of the Lord to the captivity, from which, with the wretched¬
ness of His people, He had hitherto concealed His face." This latter ren¬
dering seems to suit the connection and especially the parallelism with the
"return" of the Lord in the following part of the verse. (See Jer. 29.14;
30.3,18.)
“and will return ",—This return of Jehovah to His people seems to
resume the thought of the first “return" and thus confirms somewhat the
interpretation given above.
Vers. 4,5. "These words", says Kcil, "do not furnish any proof
that the Jews will ultimately be brought back to Palestine. The posses¬
sion of earthly Canaan for all time is nowhere promised to the Israelitish
nation in the law. The words 'multiply thee above thy fathers’, while
21
DEUTERONOMY
they have some reference to the final redemption of Israel, are fatal to the
view of any literal restoration. If there is to be an increase in the number
of the Jews, when they are gathered out of their dispersion, above the num¬
ber of their fathers, and therefore above the number in the time of Solomon
and the first monarchs of the two kingdoms, Palestine will never furnish
room enough for a nation multiplied like this."
There is little, if any force at all, in this objection, which is also
voiced by Wordsworth and others. If the Lord pleased to make the land
capable of sustaining larger numbers He could easily do so. The passage
does seem to point to a national and local return. It has received partial
fulfillment again and again in the history of the Jews, but whether, after
the conversion of the Jews to Christ, they are to be literally restored to
the earthly Canaan must be determined in keeping with the various other
Scriptures on this matter.
Keil says, "The multiplication promised here will consist in the reali¬
zation of the promise given to Abraham, that his seed should grow into
nations, not of ‘Israel according to the flesh,’ but of ‘Israel according to
the spirit’, whose land is not restricted to the boundaries of an earthly
Palestine." (Schr. Wor. Gosman.)
Jamieson, on the other hand, contends that, "The promise was not
fulfilled on the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, for Israel was not
then scattered in the manner here described—'among all nations’, ’unto the
utmost parts of heaven' (verse 4) ; and when God recalled them from that
bondage all the Israelites were not brought back, and they were not multi¬
plied above their fathers (verse 5), nor were their hearts nor those of their
children circumcised to love the Lord (verse 6). It is not, therefore, of
the Babylonish captivity Moses is speaking in this passage; it must be of
the dispersed state to which they have been doomed for 1800 years. This
prediction may have been partially accomplished upon the return from
Babylon; for, according to the structure and design of Scripture prophecy,
it may have pointed to several similar eras in their national history. But
undoubtedly it will receive its complete and full accomplishment in the
conversion of the Jews to the Gospel of Christ, after which they will return
and obey the voice of the Lord. The words may, therefore, be interpreted
either wholly in a spiritual sense (John 11.51,52), or, as many think, in a
literal sense also."
Scofield says, "Here, then, if there were no other passage, is a plain
declaration of the purpose of God to plant again his ancient people in their
own land."
Ver. 6. "The fulfillment of this promise," says Keil, "does not take
place all at once. It commenced with small beginning at the deliverance
from Babylonish exile, and in a still larger degree at the appearance of
Christ in the case of all the Israelites who received Him then as their
Saviour. Since then it has been carried on through all ages in the conver¬
sion of individual children of Abraham to Christ, and it will be realized
in the future in a more glorious manner in the nation at large (Rom.
11.25)."
Ver. 7. The reverse side of these acts of grace, after the manner of
Gen. 12.3.
Vers. 8-10. Now follows the general thought that the Israelites
22
II SAMUEL
would come again into right relations with Jehovah, their God, would
enter into true covenant relationship with Him and enjoy the blessings
of the covenant under Him.
The "fathers * are not the patriarchs alone but all the pious ancestors
of the people.
These verses Scofield calls "The Palestinian Covenant," and says that
it "gives the conditions under which Israel entered the promised land. It
is important to see that the nation has never yet taken the land under the
unconditional Abrahamic Covenant, nor has it ever possessed the whole
land. The Palestinian Covenant is in seven parts:
(1) Dispersion for disobedience, verse 1.
(2) The future repentance of Israel while in the dispersion, verse 2.
(3) The return of the Lord, verse 3.
(4) Restoration to the land, verse 3.
(5) National conversion, verse 6.
(6) The judgment of Israel's oppressors, verse 7.
(7) National prosperity, verse 9."
In verse 20 is set forth once more the condition of life, and of long
life in the land promised to their fathers.
THE SECOND BOOK OF
SAMUEL
(B.C. 1056—B. C. 1017)
CHAPTER SEVEN
8 Now therefore thus shalt thou say
unto my servant David, Thus saith
Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the
’sheepcote, from following the sheep,
that thou shouldest be ’prince over my
people, over Israel; 9 and I have been
with thee whithersoever thou wentest,
and have cut off all thine enemies from
before thee; and I will make thee a great
name, like unto the name of the great
ones that are in the earth. 10 And I will
appoint a place for my people Israel,
and will plant them, that they may
dwell in their own place, and be moved
no more; neither shall the children of
wickedness afflict them any more, as at
the first. 1 1 and as from the day that I
commanded judges to be over my peo¬
ple Israel; and I 'will cause thee to rest
from all thine enemies. Moreover Jeho¬
vah telleth thee that Jehovah will make
thee a house. 12 When thy days are
fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seed after
thee, that shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
*Or, fojlmrt
■Or, laadar
■Or, Ativ* catuad
13 He shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his
father, and he shall be my son: if he
commit iniquity, I will chasten him
with the rod of men. and with the
stripes of the children of men; 15 but
my loving kind ness shall not 'depart from
him, as I took it from Saul, whom I
put away before thee. 16 And thy
house and thy kingdom shall be made
sure for ever before thee: thy throne
shall be established for ever. 17 Ac¬
cording to all these words, and accord¬
ing to all this vision, so did Nathan
speak unto David.
24 And thou didst establish to thy¬
self thy people Israel to be a people
unto thee for ever; and thou, Jehovah,
becamest their God.
29 now therefore 4 let it please thee to
bless the house of thy servant, that it
may continue for ever before thee; for
thou, O Lord Jehovah, hast spoken it:
and with thy blessing let the house of
thy servant be blessed for ever.
4 Or, bagln and blast
23
II SAMUEL
Vers. 8-17,24,29. The Covenant with David.
Ver. 10. “The gradually advancing manifestations of the Lord's
favor to David as set forth in verses 8 and 9 look to the well-being of the
people of Israel." (Er.)
“I will appoint a place”, —By subduing their enemies the Lord made
room for a safe and unengendered expansion by the people of Israel in the
promised land.
‘‘will plant them”, —This is the promise of a firm, deep-rooted
national life.
" dwell in their own place”, —i. e., within the limits secured for them
by the Lord.
‘‘as at the first” ,—This doubtless refers to the beginning of their his¬
tory in Egypt.
The sense is, as W. J. Erdman says, that after all the manifestations
of His favor in the past up to this time, the Lord will for the future assure
His people a position and an existence wherein they shall no more experi¬
ence the affliction and oppression that they formerly suffered from godless
nations.
Ver. 11. “ and I will cause thee to rest”, —Some take the verb in the
perfect tense as in the Authorized Version, resuming the thought from
verse 9, but this is inadmissible because the discourse has already in the pre¬
ceding words turned to the future, and such a retrogressive repetition would
be intolerable considering especially the rapid advance in thought.
“Jehovah will build thee a house”, —There is here no allusion to
David's house of cedar, the building of the house being here naturally figur¬
ative of the bestowment of a blessed posterity, etc. (See I Chron. 1 7.25.)
Ver. 12. After David's death the promise was to be fulfilled.
“thy seed”, —This does not refer to the whole posterity of David,
as is clear from the explanatory words in I Chron. 17.11, “thy seed that
shall be of thy so ns”; nor is it merely a single individual, but a selection
from the posterity, which will be appointed by God’s favor to succeed
David on the throne.
Ver. 13. “for my name”, —The name stands for God Himself—
not simply in His honor, or as a place to call on Him, but a place which
should be the sign and pledge of His presence in Israel.
Ver. 14. “the rod of men”, —This means with such punishment
as men suffer for their sins and not merely “moderate punishments", as
Clericus says.
Ver. 15. Hengstenberg finely remarks, “The contrast is that be¬
tween the punishment of sin in individuals and the favor that remains
permanently with the family, whereby the divine promise becomes an un¬
conditional one."
“before thee”, —i. e.. before thy face.
Ver. 16. David, as ancestor and beginner of the line of kings, is
conceived of as he who passes all his successors before him in vision, as
Gerlach supposes, or as Keil says, “continues to exist in his descendants .
24
I CHRONICLES
When David's earthly throne became extinct God raised up Christ as his
seed to sit on his throne forever.
Ver. 24. The first clause does not refer merely to the liberation of
Israel out of Egypt, nor hardly to the conquest of Canaan alone, as W. J.
Erdman supposes, but rather as Keil says, “to all that the Lord had done for
the establishment of Israel as the people of His possession, from the time
of Moses till His promise of the eternal continuance of the throne of
David."
“establish", —The thought is of the establishment of their dwellings,
their possessions and their whole life.
“to be a people unto thee forever", —Gerlach says, “All nations are
finally merged in this people, the divine Israel, the congregation of Jesus
Christ." Again, as throughout the passage, it is a question of literal or
spiritual interpretation.
Ver. 29. “for thou, O Lord Jehovah , hast spoken it", —This rep¬
resents the content of verse 21 as the divine ground of the desired fulfill¬
ment of the promise.
“with thy blessing" ,—This is better rendered, “from thy blessing",
as the source of all blessings. Then instead of the optative form of the
Authorized Version and of our text, the future form of the last clause
gives a richer sense and one more appropriate to the connection, i. e., God
hath spoken it and it WILL be so. The sentence best reads, “And from
thy blessing will the house of thy servant be blessed forever."
Says Scofield, “This Davidic covenant has but one condition: dis¬
obedience in the Davidic family is to be visited with chastisement, but not
to the abrogation of the Covenant (II Sam. 7.15; Psa. 89.20-37; Isa.
24.5; 54.3). The chastisement fell; first in the division of the kingdom
under Rehoboam, and, finally in the captivities (II Kings 25.1-7). Since
that time but one King of the Davidic family has been crowned at Jerusa¬
lem and He was crowned with thorns. But the Davidic covenant con¬
firmed to David by the oath of Jehovah, and renewed to Mary by the
angel Gabriel, is immutable (Psa. 89.30-37), and the Lord God will yet
give to that thorn-crowned One 'the throne of His father David' (Luke
1.31-33; Acts 2.29-32; 15.14-17)."
THE FIRST BOOK OF THE
CHRONICLES
(<-B. C. 1015)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say
unto my servant David, Thus saith
Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the
'sheepcote, from following the sheep,
’Or, failure
that thou shouldst be 'prince over my
people Israel: 8 and I have been with
thee whithersoever thou hast gone, and
have cut off all thine enemies from be-
a Or, leader
25
I CHRONICLES
fore thee; and I will make thee a name
like unto the name of the great ones
that are in the earth. 9 And I will
appoint a place for my people Israel,
and will plant them, that they may
dwell in their own place and be moved
no more; neither shall the children of
wickedness waste them any more, as at
the first, 10 and as from the day that I
commanded judges to be over my people
Israel; and I ‘will subdue all thine
enemies. Moreover I tell thee that
Jehovah will build thee a house. 1 1 And
it shall come to pass, when thy days are
8 Or, have subdued
fulfilled that thou must go to be with
thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed
after thee, who shall be of thy sons;
and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He
shall build me a house, and I will estab¬
lish his throne for ever. 13 1 will be
his father, and he shall be my son: and
I will not take my lovingkindness away
from him, as I took it from him that
was before thee; 14 but I will settle
him in my house and in my kingdom
for ever; and his throne shall be estab¬
lished for ever. 15 According to all
these words, and according to all this
vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Vers. 7-15, The Davidic Covenant.
(See II Samuel 7.8-17.)
"David is here," says Scofield, "as often, a type of his Son after the
flesh (Matt. 1.1; Rom. 1.3), Jesus the Shepherd-King. At His first com¬
ing He took the shepherd’s place, first in death (John 10.11), and now in
resurrection power (Heb. 13.20). At His return He will take the place
of "ruler over Israel" (Isa. 11.10-12; Jer. 23.5-8; Luke 1.32,33; Acts
15.14-17). This is the precise order of Psalms 22,23,24. In the first
the Good Shepherd is giving His life for the sheep; in the second He is
caring for the sheep; in the third He comes to reign as King in glory."
Ver. 9. '7 will appoint’’, —The perfects here are to be taken as
future statements of that which God will further show to His people.
Some would have the promises of future salvation begin only with verse 11.
"children of wickedness", —The Egyptians are doubtless chiefly in¬
tended.
Ver. 10. "I tell thee ",—It is inadmissible to give this a past mean¬
ing, as do some, and render, "I have told thee"; because we cannot discover
that such an announcement was made before, in as much as our historical
books nowhere mention it.
Ver. 11. "who shall be of thy sons", —II Sam. 7.12 no doubt
presents the original, "that shall proceed out of thy bowels".
Keil, Starke, and older commentators say that the writer here meant
to designate not so much Solomon but the Messiah. But the first words
of verse 12 seem to indicate that Solomon was meant, as in II Chron. 7.18
his person and not that of some future Messianic descendant is manifestly
designated. Accordingly, as in II Sam. 7.12, so in Chronicles the Messi¬
anic element is limited essentially to the eternal duration that is promised
to the kingdom of Solomon (verses 12-14).
Ver. 13. " him that was before thee", —i. e., Saul.
Ver. 14. "in my house and in my kingdom ",—First in the Old
Testament theocracy and then in the Messianic kingdom of the new cove¬
nant, the full glory of which is yet to come.
26
JOB
THE BOOK OF
JOB
(B. C. 1520)
CHAPTER NINETEEN
25 But as for me I know that my Re¬
deemer liveth,
And at last he will stand up upon
the earth;
26 And after my skin, even this body, is
destroyed.
Then without my flesh shall I see
God.
Vcr. 25-26. Job's Faith in His Future Vindication.
There is really some doubt as to whether this passage in Job can
rightly be said to hold any reference to Christ, or to Job's resurrection or
to any contemplated vision of the coming Lord.
The Hebrew word "Goel" may quite as properly be translated "Vin¬
dicator"; the words "day", "worms" and "body" are not in the text, and
it is somewhat doubtful whether even the idea of death inheres in the
passage. Many modern translators think Job meant to say no more than
that even though his skin, that is, his body, waste away, yet “in his flesh’’,
that is, before he dies, he would see God interposing to vindicate his char¬
acter, even as the concluding part of the poem shows to have been the case.
While these expositors do not question that Job did believe in the immor¬
tality of the soul, they contend that it is a question whether at that early
period he could have had any such well defined doctrine of the Resurrection,
or would have used it in this connection if he had.
By far the majority of modern expositors, however, it is held that
Job does refer to his resurrection, and that although no reference is made to
his resurrection body, the hope is expressed of a future spiritual beholding
of God as a glorified spirit. But, with Delitzsch, we do not believe this
exhausts the meaning of Job's confession.
If the translation, "in my flesh", be retained, the reference, accord¬
ingly, must be to his resurrection body. The translation of our text,
however, ("without my flesh") is much to be preferred and is held by
practically all of our ablest commentators. It must further be noticed
that Job says that not merely he, but his eyes shall behold God, and he
must therefore have imagined his spirit clothed with a new spiritual body
instead of the old decayed one, all of which points to a rather clear hope of
a coming resurrection.
“And at last He will stand upon the earth ”,—In view of the fore¬
going it is certainly within the limits of sound interpretation to see in
these words a prophecy of the Redeemer's Second Coming, or, as is often
the case with the prophets, a double prophecy, viz., of the Redeemer's in¬
carnation and His coming to judgment, the first necessary to the second
and the second the compliment of the first. Certainly as thus taken, this
magnificent passage is worthy, as one has said, to be "written in gems and
gold”.
27
THE PSALMS
THE PSALMS
(B. C. 1055)
PSALM ONE
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand
in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous.
Ver. 5. The Wicked and the Righteous in Judgment-time.
"the wicked shall not stand in the judgment ”,—We are reminded by
certain scholars that it is not without significance that the Greek version
reads here, "the wicked shall not rise”, and for "sinners in the congregation
of the righteous" it reads, "sinners in the counsel of the righteous”, as if
not only would the ungodly not rise at the same time with the righteous,
but that the latter would be a congregation or a company to whom special
judicial functions would belong. (Deut. 7.22 and Rev. 20.4.) Exegetical
refinement of this character is, however, not to be relied upon.
PSALM TWO
The first three verses of this Psalm describe the conduct of the rebel-
ious nations, the next three set forth God as replying to them by word
and deed, while in the next three the Messiah, the Anointed Himself, speaks
without being introduced and declares the divine decree in relation to Him¬
self, and in the last three verses the Psalmist exhorts the nations to sub¬
mission.
Scofield says this Psalm gives the order of the establishment of the
Kingdom. He says, "It is in six parts. (1) The rage of the Gentiles,
the vain imagination of the ‘people’ (the Jews), and the antagonism of the
rulers against Jehovah’s Anointed (verses 1-3). The inspired interpre¬
tation of this is in Acts 4.25-28, which asserts its fulfillment in the cruci¬
fixion of Christ. (2) The derision of Jehovah (verse 4) that men should
suppose it possible to set aside His covenant (II Sam. 7.8-17), and oath
(Psa. 89.34-37). (3) The vexation (verse 5) fulfilled, first in the De¬
struction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70; and in the final dispersion of the Jews
at that time; and to be fulfilled more completely in the tribulation (Matt.
24.29) which immediately precedes the return of the King (Matt. 24.30).
(4) The establishment of the rejected King upon Zion (verse 6).
(5) The subjection of the earth to the King’s rule (verses 7-9). (6) The
present appeal to the world-powers (verses 10-12).”
1 Why do the nations ^age,
And the peoples meditate a vain
thing?
2 The kings of the earth set them¬
selves.
And the rulers take counsel together.
’Or, tumultuously assemble
Against Jehovah, and against his
anointed, saying
3 Let us break their bonds asunder.
And cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens will
laugh:
The Lord will have them in derision.
28
THE PSALMS
5 Then will he speak unto them in his
wrath,
And 'vex them in his sore dis¬
pleasure:
6 Yet I have set my king
Upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will tell of the decree:
Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my
son;
This day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the
nations for thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession.
3 Or, trouble
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod
of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel.
10 Now therefore be wise, O ye kings:
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve Jehovah with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
1 2 Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye
perish in the way,
For his wrath *will soon be kindled.
‘Blessed are all they that take refuge
in him.
•Or, may
*Ot, Hapfy
Vers. 1-12. THE REIGN OF JEHOVAH’S ANOINTED.
Ver. 5. This verse Scofield thinks is to find its final and more com¬
plete fulfillment in the great tribulation just before Christ's coming in glory
and especially in the moment of that coming, while verse 6 he thinks refers
to the establishment of the rejected Messiah upon Mount Zion, and the
three following verses to the submission of the earth to His rule. With
this we find those of the same school of interpretation in agreement. There
is no question whatever as to the Messianic character of the Psalm, and in
so far as it has not as yet found fulfillment it must of course look still to
the future.
Says Alexander, "The same rash and hopeless opposition to the Lord
and His Anointed still continues, and is likely to continue until the king¬
doms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ."
These authorities, belonging to opposite schools of interpretation, con¬
tend, as will be noted, the one for a literal and the other for a spiritual
fulfillment of this prophetical Psalm.
Ver. 7. "J will tell the decree", —i. e., the statute, the organic law
or constitution of my kingdom.
"Jehovah said unto me", —i. e., at my inauguration or induction into
office.
"This day have I begotten thee", —The relation here described as
manifest in time rests upon one that is essential and eternal, and the inter¬
pretation of the passage as describing the inauguration of Christ as Media¬
torial King by no means impugns the Eternal Sonship of His Divine nature.
It does not therefore, by implying something recent, exclude the eternal
reference any more than the universality of Christ s kingdom is excluded
by the local reference to Zion. The phrase, "I have begotten thee", is
equivalent to saying "I have become thy Father."
Ver. 8. Here Jehovah speaks to His Son.
"uttermost parts of the earth", —i. e., all that lies between the utter¬
most ends of the earth. This is to be the Messiah's kingdom. That He
has asked for this and received it as His heritage is implied in verses 2 and
3 where the nations are represented as in revolt against Him as their right¬
ful sovereign. This verse of course asserts the share of the Gentiles in the
blessings of the Messiah's rule yet not as heathen, but as submissive to the
Messianic kingdom.
29
THE PSALMS
Seiss remarks here that this Psalm and especially this verse is much
upon the lips of those who expect the world’s conversion, and a blessed
Millenium prior to the return of Christ to judge the alien world. But
he says, "This is a mistake. We have here the Father’s covenant to the
Son, and not to men in this world; and the time given for its fulfillment
is the judgment time; the time when the confederated anti-christian powers
are to be dashed to pieces like brittle pottery; the time when God shall
enthrone His King on the holy hill of Zion. This Psalm synchronizes
in its import with Dan. 2.44-45; 7.9-14 and Lu. 19.15-27."
Ver. 9. “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron",—The Messiah
is thus represented also in Rev. 12.5 and 19.15. This utterly shatters the
objection of De Wette to the Messianic interpretation. The Messiah’s
power is to be exercised in wrath as well as in mercy. The Septuagint and
several older versions change some of the vowel points and make it read like
Micah 7.14, "to rule", or "to feed with a rod of iron" (as a shepherd).
This last figure is a common one to represent the exercise of regal power,
and there may be an ironical allusion to this here.
“Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's wheel", —A descrip¬
tion of the easy and immediate destruction of a worthless vessel.
Blackstone remarks here, "He is coming to sit upon the throne of His
glory (Matt. 25.31), and to be admired in all them that believe (II Thess.
1.10), and to rule, in judgment and equity, all the nations of the earth.
His coming in His Kingdom and His coming in His glory are synonymous,
and both are yet future."
PSALM EIGHT
4 What is man, that thou art mindful
of him?
And the son of man, that thou visit-
est him?
5 For thou hast made him but little
lower than 3 God,
And crownest him with glory and
honor.
1 0r, ihe angels. Heb. Elohim.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his
feet:
7 All sheep and oxen.
Yea. and the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens, and the
fish of the sea,
Whatsoever passeth through the
paths of the seas.
Vers. 4-8. Christ’s Future Dominion Foretold.
This Psalm is taken by many as next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
That its main reference, however, is to the dignity of human nature, as
it was at first and as it is to be restored in Christ, there can be no doubt.
"It is very evident, however,” says Jamieson, "by the Apostle’s inspired
expositions (Heb. 2. 6-8; I Cor. 15.27,28) that the language here em¬
ployed finds its fulfillment only in the final exaltation of Christ’s human
nature."
In Psalm 2 Jehovah's rejected and crucified Son is yet to reign in
Zion; here, though in His human nature made a little lower than the
angels (verses 4-6), He is to have dominion over the redeemed creation.
(See Heb. 2.6-11.)
Says Scofield, "Heb. 2.6-11, in connection with this Psalm and Rom.
8.17-21, shows that the ‘many sons’, whom He is bringing to glory, are
30
THE PSALMS
joint heirs with Him in both the royal right of Psa. 2 and the human right
of Heb. 2.”
PSALM SIXTEEN
Neither wilt thou suffer 2 thy holy
one to see ‘corruption.
J 0 r, godly; or beloved. Another reading is,
holy ones.
*Or, the fit
Vers. 9,10. CHRIST'S RESURRECTION FORETOLD.
This is the next in order of the Messianic Psalms. According to
Peter (Acts 2.25) and Paul (Acts 13.35), this Psalm relates to Christ,
and expresses, as Jamieson says, "the feelings of His human nature in view
of His sufferings and victory over death and the grave, including His subse¬
quent exaltation at the right hand of God."
Vers. 9,10. "As a prophet", says Scofield, "David understood
that, not at His first advent, but at some time subsequent to His death and
resurrection Christ would assume the Davidic throne."
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my
glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in ‘safety.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul to
Sheol:
1 0r, confidently
PSALM TWENTY-TWO
This Psalm is next in order as Messianic.
28 For the kingdom is Jehovah’s; and'
he is the ruler over the nations.
29 All the fat ones of the earth shall
eat and worship;
All they that go down to the dust
shall bow before him,
Even he that cannot keep his soul
alive.
30 A seed shall serve him;
It shall be 1 told of the Lord unto the
next generation.
3 1 They shall come and shall declare his
righteousness
Unto a people that shall be born,
that he hath done it.
’Or, counted unlo the Lord for his gener¬
ations
Vers. 28-31. The Lord Shall Rule the Nations of the Earth.
In verse 28 the kingdom is said to be Jehovah’s, while in verse 30
the Lord is in view as ruling on behalf of Jehovah.
The great end and object of the rule of the Lord is the restoration of
the kingdom to Jehovah (I Cor. 15.23,24).
The true meaning here of the word "seed" is "posterity".
PSALM TWENTY-FOUR
The Messianic reference of the Twenty-fourth Psalm (S. Hen. Mic.
Schm.) is somewhat doubtful, but Alexander has well said of it, "The
sanctuary of the old economy was intended to symbolize God’s special
presence and residence among His people; and as this was realized in the
advent of Christ, the Psalm before us may in a certain sense be described as
Messianic."
31
THE PSALMS
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lifted up, ye 'everlasting
doors:
And the King of glory will come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
Jehovah, strong and mighty,
Jehovah, mighty in battle.
Vers. 7-10. THE THRONE GIVEN
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
Yea, lift them up, ye 'everlasting
doors
And the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
Jehovah of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
1 0r, ancient
to the King of Glory.
The order of the Psalm is somewhat as follows: First, The declar¬
ation of Title, “the earth is the Lord’s'’ (verses 1,2) ; Second, The Require¬
ment vf Holiness for rulership of the earth (verses 3-6) ; Third, The
Ascension to the throne of the worthy One, the King of Glory.
“It is”, says Scofield, “a question of worthiness, and no one is worthy
but the Lamb, and thus the Lamb, the King of Glory, takes the throne of
the earth.”
PSALMS FORTY AND FORTY-ONE
These are the two next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
Psalm Forty speaks of Jehovah’s Servant obedient unto death, while
Psalm Forty-one relates to the betrayal of the Son of man, as Jesus Him¬
self taught in the thirteenth chapter of John’s Gospel.
PSALM FORTY-FIVE
1 My heart overfloweth with a goodly
matter;
H speak the things which I have
made touching the king:
My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer.
2 Thou art fairer than the children of
men;
Grace is poured 1 2 3 into thy lips:
Therefore God hath blessed thee for
ever.
3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O
mighty one,
Thy glory and thy majesty.
4 And in thy majesty ride on prosper¬
ously,
“Because of truth and meekness and
righteousness:
And 4 thy right hand shall teach thee
terrible things.
5 Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under thee;
They are in the heart of the king's
enemies.
6 5 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever:
J Or, I speak', my work is for a king
‘‘'Or, ufon
3 Or, In behalf -of
*Or, lei ihy right hand teach
e Or, Thy throne is the throne of Cod
A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of
thy kingdom.
7 Thou hast loved righteousness, and
hated wickedness:
Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
8 All thy garments smell of myrrh,
and aloes, and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instru¬
ments have made thee glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among thy hon¬
orable women:
At thy right hand doth stand the
queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider.
and incline thine ear:
Forget also thine own people, and
thy father's house:
11 So will the king desire thy beauty;
For he is thy lord; and reverence
thou him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be
there with a gift;
The rich among the people shall en¬
treat thy favor.
32
THE PSALMS
13 The king’s daughter* within the
palace is all glorious:
Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
14 She shall be led unto the king in
broidered work:
The virgins her companions that fol¬
low her
Shall be brought unto thee.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall
they be led:
"Or, in the inner -part of the palace
They 6hall enter into the king's
palace.
16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children,
Whom thou shalt make princes in all
the earth.
17 1 will make thy name to be remem¬
bered in all generations:
Therefore shall the peoples give thee
thanks for ever and ever.
Vers. 1-17. The UNION AND GLORY OF CHRIST AND HlS TRIUMPHANT
Church Described.
Next in order is the Forty-fifth Psalm, to which the Messianic sense
is given by the oldest interpreters, both Jewish and Christian. Says Faus-
set, “Several Jewish monarchs, from Solomon to the wicked Ahab and
various foreign princes, have been named as the hero of the song. But to
none of them can the terms here used be shown to apply, and, it is hardly
probable that any mere nuptial song, especially of a heathen king, would
be permitted a place in the sacred songs of the Jews." It is the union of
Christ and the Church finally triumphant that is set forth. Scofield says,
“This great Psalm of the King obviously looks forward to the advent in
glory. The divisions are: (1) The supreme beauty of the King (verses
1,2) ; (2) the coming of the King in glory (verses 3-5). (Compare Rev.
19.11-21); (3) the Deity of the King and the character of His reign
(verses 6,7) ; (4) as associated with Him in earthly rule, the queen is pre¬
sented (verses 9-13) ; (5) the virgin companions of the queen, who would
seem to be the Jewish remnant, are next seen (verses 14,15) ; and (6) the
Psalm closes with a reference to the earthly fame of the King (verses
16,17).“
On the other hand some have sought to find in the bride the Jewish
Church and in the companions of the bride, the Gentile Churches. But
it is not necessary to find in the history of Christ and His Church exact
parallels for every part of this splendid allegory, and it will not do to press
the interpretation of the details in this manner.
Fausset remarks that, “As to the time in which the prophecy is to be
fulfilled, it may be said that no periods of time are especially designated.
The characteristics of the relation of Christ and His Church are indicated,
and we may suppose that the whole process of His exaltation from the dec¬
laration of His Sonship, by His resurrection, to the grand catastrophe of the
final judgment, with all the collateral blessings to the Church and to the
world, lay before the vision of the inspired prophet."
PSALM FORTY-EIGHT
The Beauty and the Glory of Zion.
This, some would have us believe, is next in order of the Messianic
Psalms. Indeed the Jewish interpreters take it to be descriptive of Jerusa¬
lem in the Messianic times, after the victory over Gog and Magog. The
Psalm was most probably written to commemorate the same event as does
the one before it, namely, the victory of Jehosaphat over the Ammonites
33
THE PSALMS
and the Edomites as recorded in the twentieth chapter of Second Chron¬
icles, and the simpler method of interpretation is that it celebrates Jehovah
and Jerusalem as His residence and sets forth the privileges and blessings of
Jehovah’s spiritual dominion as the terror of the wicked and the joy of the
righteous. The older Christian expositors apply the Psalm to the eternal
glory of the spiritual Zion.
PSALM SIXTY-EIGHT
The King in Triumphant Ascension and Universal Dominion.
This is next in order of the Messianic Psalms. Indeed the Fathers,
most of the older theologians and some moderns (Mic.) take it as a direct
prophecy of Christ, as to His advent. His saving doctrine, His triumphant
ascension into heaven (Eph. 4.8) and His all-embracing sovereignty and
divine glory; while Jamieson, Stier and others consider the Psalm to be
typically Messianic.
21 But God will smite through the head
of his enemies,
The hairy scalp of such a one as
goeth on still in his guiltiness.
22 The Lord said, I will bring again
from Bashan.
I will bring them again from the
depths of the sea;
2 3 That thou mayest crush them,
dipping thy foot in blood,
That the tongue of thy dogs may
have its portion from thine ene¬
mies.
24 They have seen thy goings, O God,
Even the goings of my God, my
King, ’into the sanctuary.
25 The singers went before, the min¬
strels followed after.
In the midst of the damsels playing
with timbrels.
26 Bless ye God in the congregations,
Even the Lord, ye that are of the
fountain of Israel.
2 7 There is little Benjamin their ruler.
The princes of Judah and their
Council,
The princes of Zebulun, the princes
of Naphtali.
28 Thy God hath commanded thy
strength:
Strengthen, O God. that which thou
‘has wrought for us.
29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem
Kings shall bring presents unto thee.
3 0 Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,
The multitude of the bulls, with the
calves of the peoples.
Trampling under foot the pieces of
silver:
6 He hath scattered the peoples that
delight in war.
31 Princes shall come out of Egypt;
7 Etbiopia shall haste to stretch out
her hands unto God.
3 2 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the
earth:
Oh sing praises unto the Lord:
[Selah
3 3 To him that rideth upon the heaven
of heavens, which are of old;
Lo, he uttereth his voice, a mighty
voice.
34 Ascribe ye strength unto God:
His excellency is over Israel,
And his strength is in the skies.
35 0 God. thou art terrible out of thy
holy places:
The God of Israel, he giveth strength
and power unto his people.
Blessed be God.
3 Or, Be strong, 0 God, thou that hast &c.
4 Or, hast wrought for us out of thy temple.
Unto Jerusalem &c.
s Or, Every one submitting himself with pieces
of silver
p Or, as otherwise read. Scatter thou
7 Heb. Cush.
1 Or, in the sanctuary Or, in holiness
"■'Or, company
"The entire Psalm," says Scofield, "is pervaded by the joy of Israel
in the kingdom, but a stricter order of events begins with verse 18, which
verse is quoted by Paul in the fourth chapter of Ephesians of Christ s
ascension ministry. Verses 21-23 refer to the regathering of Israel, and
the destruction of the Beast and his armies. Verses 24-35 are descriptive
of full and universal kingdom blessing."
34
THE PSALMS
PSALM SIXTY-NINE
The King in Humiliation.
Next in order of the Messianic Psalms is the Sixty-ninth. It is the
Psalm of His humiliation and rejection. The quotations from it and the
references to it in the New Testament show how far the older interpreters
were justified in so construing it.
3 5 For God will save Zion, and build 36 The seed also of his servants shall
the cities of Judah: inherit it:
And they shall abide there, and have And they that love his name shall
it in possession. dwell therein.
Vers. 35,36. Jehovah’s Servants to Dwell in the Cities of
Judah.
Says Moll, “This does not expressly state a restoration of Zion and
a repeopling of the cities of Judah. The words admit of being under¬
stood generally on the basis of the promise contained in the Law, of con¬
tinuance and growth and of our supposing that there is a prophetic glance
at the fate of the land and people in individual experience."
Alexander says, "As temporal and spiritual blessings were insepar¬
ably blended in the old dispensation, the promise of perpetual possession
and abode in Palestine is merely the costume in which that of everlasting
favor to the Church is clothed in the Old Testament."
Fausset says, "Though, as usual, the imagery is taken from terms
used of Palestine, the whole tenor of the context indicates that the spiritual
privileges and blessings of the Church are meant."
The reference here, however, to a literal restoration in the holy land is
not to be easily brushed aside, as the words may quite as readily contain
such reference, provided, of course, such interpretation harmonizes with
the teaching of the Scriptures elsewhere, and if other prophetical passages
do teach a literal restoration, then it would seem fitting to so interpret here.
PSALM SEVENTY-TWO
1 Give the king thy judgments, O God,
And thy righteousness unto the
king's son.
2 He will judge thy people with right¬
eousness,
And thy poor with justice.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to
the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 He will judge the poor of the people,
He will save the children of the
needy,
And will break in pieces the op¬
pressor.
5 They shall fear thee while the sun
endureth,
And ‘so long as the moon, through¬
out all generations.
’Heb. before the moon
6 He will come down like rain upon
the mown grass,
As showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flour¬
ish.
And abundance of peace, till the
moon shall be no more.
8 He shall have dominion also from
sea to sea.
And from the River unto the ends of
the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before him;
And his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the
isles shall render tribute;
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall
offer gifts.
35
THE PSALMS
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before
him;
All nations shall serve him.
1 2 For he will deliver the needy when
he crieth.
And the poor. *that hath no helper.
1 3 He will have pity on the 'poor and
needy.
And the souls of the needy he will
save.
14 He will redeem their soul from 'op¬
pression and violence;
And precious will their blood be in
his sight:
15 And F they shall live; and to him
shall be given of the gold of
Sheba:
And men shall pray for him con¬
tinually ;
‘They shall bless him all the day
long.
‘‘Or, and him that hath
’Or, weak
*Or, fraud
6 Or, he
16 There shall be ‘abundance of grain
in the ’earth upon the top of the
mountains;
The -fruit thereof shall shake like
Lebanon:
And they of the city shall flourish
like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever;
His name shall 8 be continued e as long
as the sun;
And men shall l0 be blessed in him;
All nations shall call him happy.
1 8 Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of
Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things:
1 9 And blessed be his glorious name for
ever;
And let the whole earth be filled with
his glory.
Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of
Jesse are ended.
fl Or, a handful
7 Or, land
’Or, have issue
B Heb. before the sun
10 Or, bless themselves
Vers. 1-20. The Reign of the Righteous King.
Next in order of the Messianic Psalms is the one before us. It is a
glowing description of the reign of the Messiah. His reign shall be a
righteous one (verses T7), a universal one (verses 8-11), a beneficent one
(verses 12-14) and a perpetual one (verses 15-17).
By the older Jewish and most modern Christian interpreters this
Psalm has been referred to Christ, whose reign, present and prospective, says
Fausset, alone corresponds with its statements.
While the one school of interpretation spiritualizes the picture and
makes it prophetic of Christ’s present spiritual reign on earth, Morgan,
Seiss, Scofield, and others of their school, believe that the Psalm as a whole
forms a complete vision of the Millennium kingdom which is to be ushered
in with Christ's personal return to earth.
Says Scofield, "Verse 1 refers to the investiture of the King’s Son with
the kingdom, of which investiture the formal description is given in Dan.
7.13,14; Rev. 5.5-10. Verses 2-7 and 12-14 give the character of the
kingdom, while verses 8-11 speak of its universality. Verse 16 hints at
the means by which universal blessing is to be brought in. Converted
Israel will be the 'handful of corn' (Amos 9.9), as the King Himself in
death and resurrection was the single grain, the ‘corn of wheat' (John
1 2.24). ‘To the Jew first’ is the order alike of Church and kingdom. It
is through restored Israel that the kingdom is to be extended over the
earth."
"The sublime 72nd Psalm," says Seiss, "is also largely drawn upon
to adorn and sustain the theory of a universal peace and glory for this
world before the present dispensation ends. It is there recorded that the
Son of David ‘shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to
the ends of the earth. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all
nations shall serve Him'. Wonderful changes for the better, in the whole
36
THE PSALMS
government and condition of the world are thus foretold, which are too
gogd not to be seized and appropriated to crown the outcome of human
progress and effort. But notes of the time are not thus to be ignored.
If we ask when all this is to be, the answer is given: ‘When He shall judge
the people'—when He shall come down'—when ‘God shall give the King
His judgments'—and hence not in the present course of things; not before
the period of great consummation."
PSALM EIGHTY-FIVE
Jehovah's Returning Favor Upon the Nation.
Blackstone would have us believe that this Psalm is Messianic and
that it refers, as seen especially in such verses as 10 and 11, to kingdom
blessings. The Psalm is a description of God's returning favor, and as
Fausset says, "The writer doubtless had in view that more glorious period,
when Christ shall establish His government on God’s reconciled justice
and abounding mercy." This view of the Psalm is, however, not to be
accepted without hesitation. The Psalm is a prayer for deliverance from
present evils on the ground of former benefits. "It seems," says Alexan¬
der, "to be appropriate to every case in which the fulfillment of the promise
in Lev. 26.3-13 was suspended or withheld." The older commentators,
however, looked upon the Psalm as prophetic.
PSALM EIGHTY-NINE
1 I will sing of the lovingkindness of
Jehovah for ever:
With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built
up for ever:
Thy faithfulness wilt thou establish
in the very heavens.
3 I have made a covenant with my
chosen,
I have sworn unto David my servant:
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever.
And build up thy throne to all gen¬
erations. [Selah
5 And the heavens shall praise thy
wonders. O Jehovah:
Thy faithfulness also in the assembly
of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies can be com¬
pared unto Jehovah?
Who among the ‘sons of the a mighty
is like unto Jehovah,
7 A God very terrible in the council of
the holy ones,
And to be feared above all them that
are round about him?
8 O Jehovah, God of hosts,
1 Or, sons of God
J Or, gods See Ps. 29. 1.
Who is a mighty one, like unto thee,
O “Jehovah?
And thy faithfulness is round about
thee.
9 Thou rulest the pride of the sea:
When the waves thereof arise, thou
stillest them.
10 Thou hast broken 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rahab in pieces,
as one that is slain:
Thou hast scattered thine enemies
with the arm of thy strength.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also
is thine:
The world and the fullness thereof,
thou hast founded them.
12 The north and the south, thou hast
created them:
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy
name.
13 Thou hast B a mighty arm;
Strong is thy hand, and high is thy
right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the
foundation of thy throne:
Lovingkindness and truth go before
thy face.
•Heb. Jah
*Or , Egypt
6 Heb. an arm with might
37
THE PSALMS
15 Blessed is the people that know the
“joyful sound:
They walk, O Jehovah, in the light
of thy countenance
1 6 In thy name do they rejoice all the
day;
And in thy righteousness are they
exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their
strength:
And in thy favor 7 our horn shall be
exalted.
18 For our shield belongeth unto Je¬
hovah :
“And our king to the Holy One of
Israel.
19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy
"saints.
And saidst, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty:
I have exalted one chosen out of the
people.
20 I have found David my servant:
With my holy oil have I anointed
him:
21 With whom my hand shall be estab¬
lished :
Mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not 10 exact from
him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 And I will beat down his adversaries
before him,
And smite them that hate him.
24 But my faithfulness and my loving¬
kindness shall be with him:
And in my name shall his horn be
exalted.
25 I will set his hand also on the sea.
And his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my
Father,
My God, and the rock of my salva¬
tion.
27 1 also will make him my firstborn.
The highest of the kings of the
earth.
28 My lovingkindness will I keep for
him for evermore:
And my covenant shall "stand fast
with him.
29 His seed also will I make to endure
for ever,
And his throne as the days of heaven.
30 If his children forsake my law.
And walk not in mine ordinances;
3 1 If they 12 break my statutes,
And keep not my commandments;
"Or, trumpet sound
T Another reading is, thou shall exalt our horn
5 Or, Even to the Holy One of Israel our King
“Or, as otherwise read, saint
,e Or, do him violence
''Or. be faithful
n ‘Heb. profane
3 2 Then will I visit their transgression
with the rod.
And their iniquity with stripes.
3 3 But my lovingkindness will I not
utterly take from him.
Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant will I not “break,
Nor alter the thing that is gone out
of my lips.
35 "Once have I sworn by my holiness
I will not lie unto David:
3 6 His seed shall endure for ever,
And his throne as the sun before me.
3 7 M It shall be established for ever as
the moon,
"And as the faithful witness in the
sky. [Selah
3 8 But thou hast cast off and rejected.
Thou hast been wroth with thine
anointed.
39 Thou hast abhorred the covenant of
thy servant:
Thou hast profaned his crown by
casting it to the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his
hedges;
Thou hast brought his strongholds
to ruin.
41 All that pass by the way rob him:
He is become a reproach to his neigh¬
bors.
42 Thou hast exalted the right hand of
his adversaries:
Thou hast made all his enemies to
rejoice.
4 3 Yea, thou turnest back the edge of
his sword,
And hast not made him to stand in
the battle.
44 Thou hast made his brightness to
cease.
And cast his throne down to the
ground.
45 The days of his youth hast thou
shortened:
Thou hast covered him with shame..
[Selah
46 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou
hide thyself for ever?
How long shall thy wrath burn like
fire?
4 7 Oh remember how short my time is:
For what vanity hast thou created all
the children of men!
48 What man is he that shall live and
not see death.
That shall deliver his soul from the
"power of Sheol? [Selah
,s Or, One thing
''Or, As the moon which is established for ever
'■'Or, And the witness in the sky is faithful
l0 Heb. hand
>8
THE PSALMS
49 Lord, where are thy former loving-
kindnesses,
Which thou swarest unto David in
thy faithfulness?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy
servants;
How I do bear in my bosom the
reproach of all the 1T mighty
peoples.
51 Wherewith thine enemies have re¬
proached, O Jehovah,
Wherewith they have reproached the
footsteps of thine anointed.
52 Blessed be Jehovah for evermore.
Amen, and Amen.
17 0r, many
Vers. 1-52. THE COVENANT WITH DAVID CONFIRMED.
This Psalm Scofield thinks is next in order as Messianic. He says,
"It is at once the confirmation and the exposition of the Davidic Covenant,
and that the Covenant itself looks far beyond David and Solomon is sure
from verse 27: 'Higher than the kings of earth’ can only refer to King
Immanuel." This same description, however, is applied elsewhere to
Israel (Ex. 4.22), and to Ephraim (Jer. 31.9), and may with propriety
be applied to David himself and successors as well as to Christ (Heb. 1.6),
and therefore it will not dp to rest the defense of the Messianic interpre¬
tation of this Psalm upon this ascription and promise alone.
The Psalm has, however, been applied prophetically to the suffering
Messiah by the ancient and the older English commentators as well as by
Wordsworth and others of the more recent times. Jewish commentators
have applied it to the miseries of the Jews since the prevalence of Chris¬
tianity, while Calvin, Stier and others apply it to the afflicted Church, in¬
asmuch as Christ lives and suffers in His followers.
The Psalm, we think, has, as Moll says, a Messianic application only
insofar as it was intended to set forth the necessary conflict which was
to be waged before the great fundamental promise could be realized.
The particular promise insisted upon in this Psalm is that in II Sam.
7, "which", says Alexander, "constitutes the basis of all Messianic
Psalms."
Scofield says, "The Psalm is in four parts: (1) The Covenant,
though springing from the loving kindness of Jehovah, yet rests upon His
oath (verses 1-4). (2) Jehovah is glorified for His power and goodness
in connection with the Covenant (verses 5-18). (3) The response of
Jehovah (verses 19-37). This is in two parts; (a) He confirms the
Covenant (verses 19-29), but (b) He warns that disobedience in the
royal posterity of David will be punished with chastenings (verses 30-32),
Historically this chastening began in the division of the Davidic kingdom
and culminated in the captivities and that subordination of Israel to the
Gentiles which still continues. (4) The plea of the remnant, who urge
the severity and long continuance of the chastening."
PSALMS NINETY-THREE TO NINETY-NINE
The Rule of Jehovah and the Destruction of the Unbelieving
Nations.
These Psalms constitute a series which celebrate the coming of Jeho¬
vah as King. The Jewish and many of the older expositors took these
Psalms as Messianic, and understood the past tenses as being employed
39
THE PSALMS
prophetically, and as describing the end of the world and its final judg¬
ment. The same reason exists for taking one as Messianic as for taking
them all in this sense. (See the opening and closing verse of Psalm 94;
also Psalm 96.13, and the 97th Psalm, as well as Psalm 98.9.)
PSALM ONE HUNDRED TWO
1 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah.
And let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the
day of my distress:
Incline thine ear unto me;
In the day when I call answer me
speedily.
3 For my days consume away Mike
smoke,
And my bones are burned 3 as a fire¬
brand.
4 My heart is smitten like grass, and
withered;
For I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groan-
ing
My bones cleave to my flesh.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am become as an owl of the waste
places.
7 I watch, and am become like a spar¬
row
That is alone upon the housetop.
8 Mine enemies reproach me all the
day;
They that are mad against me do
curse by me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread.
And mingled my drink with weep¬
ing.
10 Because of thine indignation and thy
wrath:
For thou hast taken me up, and cast
me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that
Medineth;
And I am withered like grass.
12 But thou, O Jehovah, 4 wilt abide
for ever;
And thy memorial name unto all
generations.
13 Thou wilt arise, and have mercy up¬
on Zion;
For it is time to have pity upon her.
Yea, the set time is come.
14 For thy servants take pleasure in her
stones.
And have pity upon her dust.
1 5 So the nations shall fear the name of
Jehovah,
And all the kings of the earth thy
glory.
16 For Jehovah hath built up Zion;
He hath appeared in his glory.
1 7 He hath regarded the prayer of the
destitute.
And hath not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the genera¬
tion to come:
And a people which shall be created
shall praise “Jehovah.
1 9 For he hath looked down from the
height of his sanctuary;
From heaven did Jehovah behold the
earth;
20 To hear the sighing of the prisoner;
To loose “those that are appointed to
death;
21 That men may declare the name of
Jehovah in Zion.
And his praise in Jerusalem;
22 When the peoples are gathered to¬
gether.
And the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.
2 3 He T weakened my strength in the
way;
He shortened my days.
24 I said, O my God. take me not away
in the midst of my days:
Thy years are throughout all genera¬
tions.
25 Of old didst thou lay the foundation
of the earth:
And the heavens are the work of thy
hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt
endure;
Yea, all of them shall wax old like a
garment;
As a vesture shalt thou change them,
and they shall be changed:
2 7 But thou art the same.
And thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of thy servants shall
continue,
And their seed shall be established
before thee.
3 Or, in smoke
“Or, (ij a hearth
3 Or, is stretched out
^Or, sittest as Kings
5 Heb. Jah
•Heb. the children of death
“Another reading is, afflicted me with his
strength
Vers. 1 -28. The Humiliation and the Coming Glory of the King.
The only reason for considering this Psalm Messianic is that verses
25-27 are in Hebrews 1:11-12 referred to Christ, and consequently a
40
THE PSALMS
reasonable ground is furnished for thinking that the preceding verses
express for us the exercises of His holy soul in the days of his humiliation
and rejection, together with certain prophetic statements of the glory await¬
ing Him in the. time of the consummation of His kingdom.
Says Fausset, "Hebrews 1.10 quotes verses 25-27 as addressed to
Christ in His divine nature. The scope of the Psalm, as already seen,
so far from opposing, favors this view, especially by the sentiments of
verses 12-15 (compare Isa. 60.1). The association of the Messiah with
a day of future glory to the Church was very intimate in the minds of
Old Testament writers, and with correct views of His nature it is very
consistent that He should be addressed as the Lord and Head of His Church,
who would bring about that glorious future on which they ever dwelt
with fond and delightful anticipations."
Accordingly Seiss, Blackstone, Morgan, and others of the same school
take verse 16, For Jehovah hath built up Zion, as a reference to the second
coming of Christ. The Millennium or universal peace and righteousness,
says Seiss, cannot take place before His second coming, but it is to begin
when "He shall appear in His glory". "God does not restore Israel and
rebuild Zion," says Blackstone, "until Christ appears in glory, nor does
He build up Zion until He has taken out the Church" (Acts 15.13-17).
PSALM ONE HUNDRED TEN
1 Jehovah saith unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy foot¬
stool.
2 Jehovah will ’send forth the J rod of
thy strength out of Zion:
Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies.
3 Thy people ’offer themselves will¬
ingly
In the day of thy 4 p° w er 8 in holy
array:
Out of the womb of the morning
Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
]Or, stretch
‘'Or, sceptre
'Heb. are freewill-offerings
4 Or, army
“Or, in the beauty of holiness
'Or, Thy youth are to thee as the dew
4 Jehovah hath sworn, and will not
repent;
Thou art a priest for ever
After the ’order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand
“Will strike through kings in the day
of his wrath.
6 He will judge among the nations,
9 He 10 will fill the places with dead
bodies;
He “will strike through the head "in
many countries.
7 He will drink of the brook in the
way:
Therefore will he lift up the head.
T Or, manner
8 Or, Hath stricken
“Or, The places are full of &c.
,u Or, hath filled
‘'Or, over a wide land
The explicit application of this Psalm to our Lord by Himself and
the Apostles leave us in no doubt as to its purely Messianic character.
As Fausset says, "The Psalm celebrates the exaltation of Christ to the
throne of an eternal and increasing kingdom, and a perpetual priesthood,
involving the subjugation of His enemies and the multiplication of His
subjects."
Historically, the Psalm begins with the Ascension of Christ (verse 1) ;
prophetically, it looks on to the time when Christ is to appear as the rod
of Jehovah s strength, the Deliverer out of Zion (verse 2), to the con¬
version of Israel (verse 3) and on to the judgment upon the Gentile
powers (verses 5,6).
41
THE PSALMS
Vers. 1 -7. The Kingdom, with Its Power and Glory, Given to the
King.
Ver. 1. "my Lord”, —i. e., David’s Lord. The Messiah is meant;
so recognized by the Jews of ancient times, and clear not only from their
traditions, but from Matt. 22.46. David is here not to be thought of
merely as a private person, nor even as an individual king, but as repre¬
senting his own royal race and the house of Israel over which it reigned.
‘‘Sit thou at my right hand”, —A seat at the right hand of a king
implies a participation in his power. The participation in the divine
power thus ascribed to Christ is a special and an extraordinary one, having
reference to the total subjugation of His enemies. It does not imply in¬
activity while Jehovah conquered His foes for Him, but it is in and through
the Messiah that Jehovah acts for the destruction of His enemies and for
that very end He is vested with almighty power, as denoted by His sitting
at the right hand of Jehovah. This session is to last until the total sub¬
jugation of His enemies, and this special and extraordinary power of the
Messiah is then to terminate, as Paul puts it in I Cor. 15.24-28, where the
verse before us is distinctly referred to, though not expressly quoted.
Ver. 2. David now addresses the Messiah directly.
"the rod” ,—i. e., of correction and chastisement.
‘‘of thy strength” ,—The rod by means of which thy strength is to
be exerted.
‘‘rule thou in the midst of thine enemies”, —The verb here used is
one not applied to a peaceful rule, but to a coercive one over conquered
enemies.
Ver. 3. "Thy people offer themselves willingly” ,—The reading of
the Authorized Version is entirely inadmissible, since the word translated,
’‘willingly”, is a plural feminine substantative, and cannot agree with the
singular noun, “people”. It is the word used to denote freewill offerings
or spontaneous gifts under the law of Moses. By supplying the correla¬
tive verb, “offer”, the fine sense of our text is obtained, or as it might be
rendered, “Thy people are freewill offerings.”
‘‘In the day of thy power ”,—The reference is to the day when His
power is displayed in the subjugation of His enemies.
‘‘in holy array” ,—The Authorized rendering is a more literal one,
and it may have its obvious spiritual sense as in Psa. 29.2, or it may have
the sense of “holy decorations”, with an illusion to the sacerdotal dress
which in Lev. 16.4 is expressly called "garments of holiness”. This last
we prefer with most modern commentators. It then means that when the
people make this solemn offering of themselves to Jehovah they appear
clothed in sacerdotal vestments, as servants of a priestly King (verse 4),
and themselves a "kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19.6.).
"womb of the morning ”,—This, says Alexander, is a very strong
poetical description of the origin or source of the dew, and the sense of
this word “dew” determines that of the whole clause. Dew is a constant
emblem of whatever is refreshing and strengthening.
Some think the expression refers to the multitude of people or war¬
riors who devote themselves to the Messiah and who are described as no
less numerous than the drops of dew born from the womb of the morning.
42
THE PSALMS
Others think the comparison refers to the beauty of Messiah’s people.
But neither of these figures are common or natural, and the latter is a com¬
bination not likely to occur to the mind of any writer.
Still others think, and doubtless more acceptably, that the clause
relates to the perpetual succession of Messiah's people, the successive gener¬
ations of which constantly renew His body even as the dew is engendered
afresh daily from the womb of the morning, i. e., thy youth, thy body
shall be constantly refreshed by successive accessions of people as dew from
the early morning.
The Messiah, as leading His people, is represented as continually in
the vigor of youth, refreshed and strengthened by the early dew of God’s
grace and Spirit.
Ver. 4. " Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent” ,—There is no
fear or even possibility of His breaking or retracting this engagement.
"a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”, —This likeness con¬
sists primarily in the union of the kingly and priestly office, such as was
the case with Melchizedek.
Ver. 5. Some suppose this verse addressed to Jehovah and “the
Lord’’ to mean the Messiah, on the ground that they could not both be on
the right hand of the other. But the whole idea is a figurative one. On
the right hand has the same meaning here as in Psa. 109.31, where it de¬
notes the place of protection or assistance. In one sense therefore Christ
is at the right hand of God and in another God is at the right hand of
Christ. The day of Jehovah's wrath is coincident with the day of the
Lord’s strength, in verse 3. The strength of the Messiah as a conquerer
is to be exerted in giving effect to Jehovah's wrath against His enemies.
Ver. 6. The Messiah is again spoken of here in the third person.
“He will judge among the nations”, —This is another figure for the
conquest just described.
‘‘He will strike through the head in many countries”, —The Author¬
ized Version takes both nouns as collective,—“the heads over many coun¬
tries’’. Others make only the first noun collective, “the heads over the
earth’’; while our text takes only the last noun collectively. The expres¬
sion is obscure, but the general idea is clear enough; it is that of universal
conquest on the part of the Messiah, striking down the head, the ruler in
all earthly principalities and powers.
Ver. 7. “He will drink of the brook in the way” —The probable
meaning of this clause is that He shall not be exhausted like those wander¬
ing in the desert, but refreshed and strengthened.
“Therefore will He lift up the head”, —The raising of the head is a
figure of exhilaration. Is this effect supposed to be produced in the con¬
queror himself or in others? The first clause of the verse favors the ex¬
hilaration of himself. In favor of the latter interpretation, however, is
Psa. 3.4 and 27,6. The interpretations are not, says Alexander, incom¬
patible or exclusive, and it is best to leave them side by side. The words
doubtless suggested both ideas to the Hebrews.
43
ISAIAH
THE BOOK OF
ISAIAH
(B. C. 760—B. C. 698)
The book of Isaiah falls into two chief divisions:
I. Chapters 1 to 39, looking toward the Assyrian Captivity.
II. Chapters 40 to 66, looking toward deliverance and future
blessing.
THE FIRST CHIEF DIVISION OF THE BOOK
This division may be conveniently arranged in seven sections.
Section One.—The Growth of the Obduracy of the Mass of the People.
Chapters 1 to 6
CHAPTER ONE
9. Except Jehovah of hosts had left
unto us a very small remnant, we should
have been as Sodom, we should have
been like unto Gomorrah.
Vers. 1-24. Jehovah's CASE AGAINST HlS REBELLIOUS AND UN¬
GRATEFUL People.
Ver. 9. " a very small remnant”, —Alexander says, “The idea of a
desolation almost total is expressed in other words, and with an intimation
that the narrow escape was owing to God's favor for the remnant accord¬
ing to the election of grace, who still existed in the Jewish Church. That
the verse has reference to quality as well as quantity is evident from Ro¬
mans 9.29 where Paul makes use of it, not as an illustration, but as an
argument to show that mere connection with the Church could not save
men from the wrath of God."
25 and I will Turn my hand upon
thee, and "thoroughly purge away thy
dross, and will take away all thy B tin:
26 and I will restore thy judges as at the
first, and thy. counsellors as at the be-
ginning: afterward thou shalt be called
The city of righteousness, a faithful
town. 27 Zion shall be redeemed with
justice, and 4 her converts with righteous¬
ness. 28 But the “destruction of trans¬
gressors and sinners shall be together,
’Or, bring my hand again
2 Heb. as with lye
®Or, alloy
*Or, they that return of her
B Heb. breaking
Vers. 25-31. Zion To Be Purged and Redeemed.
Ver. 25. “ turn my hand upon thee”, —This expression is some¬
times used with the idea of punishment and sometimes with that of mercy.
Here both are included, with the emphasis, however, upon the idea of
mercy, that is, blessing through purging.
44
and they that forsake Jehovah shall be
consumed. 29 For they shall be
ashamed of the "oaks which ye have de¬
sired, and ye shall be confounded for the
gardens that ye have chosen. 30 For
ye shall be as T an oak whose leaf fad-
eth, and as a garden that hath no water
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and
his work as a spark: and they shall both
burn together, and none shall quench
them.
®Or, terebinths
T Or, a terebinth
ISAIAH
“thy dross . . . thy tin", —The reference is here not to sins but to
sinful persons who are intermingled with the elect remnant of grace.
Ver. 26. Nagelsbach says, "Regarding the fulfillment of this proph¬
ecy many have found in it a promise of a return of the days of the Judges,
that is, the days of a Jephtha, a Gideon, a Samuel, etc.; others understand
the language as referring to the return out of the Babylonian captivity
under Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra and Nehemiah; others understood it of
the restitution of the kingdom, while still others find its fulfillment in the
days of the Messiah. But all these explanations are evidently too narrow
and one sided. The fulfillment has its degrees. And if Zerubbabel, Ezra
and Nehemiah are justly regarded as the representatives of the first feeble
beginnings of the great restitution of Israel; if further the Apostles are
justly regarded as the founders of a new Zion on a higher plane, still by
all this the prophecy is not at all fulfilled. It will only then be fulfilled
when the Lord comes 'into His kingdom'. (Luke 23.42.)"
Ver. 27. “her converts", —This is literally, "they that return of
her", and by many it is so rendered (C. Pe. Lut. Del. Sep.). Others,
however, and perhaps the majority (F. Al.) take the word in the spiritual
sense as meaning those who return to God in true repentance. This is
doubtless to be preferred inasmuch as the exile has not yet been men¬
tioned, although there is no objection to combining both views, as Nagels¬
bach does.
“Zion", —By this word the believing people of God are of course
meant.
" justice . . . righteousness" ,—Whose justice and righteousness is
meant?
(1) That of the acts themselves, i. e., the very same events by which
the divine justice was to manifest itself in the destruction of the wicked
should be the means of deliverance to the true people of God. (Al.)
(2) That of the people, i. e., the practice of justice and righteous¬
ness on their part. (Ges., the Rabbins especially, and most modern Ger¬
man authorities.)
(3) That of the judges and counselors mentioned in verse 26. (Na.)
(4) That of God, i. e., God’s righteousness bestowed as a gift of
grace on those who escape His punitive justice. (C. F. Del.)
The first view seems to be the simplest and the most preferable. This
is of course God’s justice and righteousness as well, although it is not here
used in the New Testament sense as the last view would have us take it.
Ver. 29. “the oaks . . . the gardens" ,—i. e., the groves and enclos¬
ures for idolatrous worship.
“they", —This may be taken as a reference to men in general (Ges.),
or to the Jews of future generations (V.), or it is perhaps better taken as a
case of enallage so frequent in Hebrew, i. e., a change of person, and made
to refer to the same people as “ye" in both this verse and the next one.
(Al.)
This section Scofield calls "a renewal of the promise of the Pales¬
tinian Covenant of future restoration and exaltation".
45
ISAIAH
CHAPTER TWO
Introducing the second prophecy, which continues to the end of
chapter.
This prophecy is set forth in three parts:
1. Part one. Vers. 1-5.
1. The word that Isaiah the son of
Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jeru¬
salem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the
latter days, that the mountain of Je¬
hovah’s house shall be established 'on
the top of the mountains, and shall be
exalted above the hills; and all na¬
tions shall flow unto it. 3 And many
peoples shall go and say, Come ye. and
let us go up to the mountain of Je¬
hovah, to the house of the God of
1 Or, at the head
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths; for out
of Zion shall go forth 3 the law, and the
word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
4 And he will judge *between the na¬
tions, and will decide concerning many
peoples; and they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they
learn war any more. 5 O house of
Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the
light of Jehovah.
"Or, instruction
s Or, among
Vers. 1-5. The Promise for the Last Days.
For explanation of these verses see under Micah 4.1-3. Delitzsch
says of verses 1-3 that all other fulfillments were but preludes to an end
still to be executed, and forming their completion: for there is no fulfill¬
ment yet of what is predicted in verse 4.
Nagelsbach says, "As regards the fulfilling of our prophecy, the
Prophet himself says that it shall follow in the last time. If it now began
a long time ago; if especially the appearance of the Lord in the flesh, and
the founding of His kingdom and the preaching of the Gospel among all
nations be an element of that fulfillment, yet it is by no means a closed-
up transaction. What it shall yet bring about we know not. If many,
especially Jewish expositors, have taken the words too coarsely and out¬
wardly, so, on the other hand, we must guard against a one-sided spiritual¬
izing. Certainly the prophets do not think of heaven. Plows and prun¬
ing hooks have as little to do with heaven as swords and spears. And
what has the high place of Mount Zion to do in heaven? Therefore our
passage speaks for the view that one time, and that too, here on this earth,
the Lord shall appropriate the kingdom, (Chap. 60.21 and Matt. 5.5),
suppress the world kingdoms and bring about a condition of peace and
glory That then what is outward shall conform to what is inward, is
certain, even though we must confess our ignorance in regard to the ways
and means of the realization in particulars."
Seiss says, "The prophet is not describing a gradual evolution in the
course of the present dispensation, but connects this happy condition with
great convulsive changes—with awful judgment—with the manifest pres¬
ence of the Lord Himself. Does not verse 10 and what follows signify
the personal presence of the Judge? What is this but the Dies irae, of
which Thomas of Celano so famously sang? It is the exact parallel of
Rev. 6.12-17. And it is only in connection with the revelation of the
Lord Jesus from heaven, 'with His mighty angels in flaming fire' that this
46
ISAIAH
blessed transformation and sanctification of society and the world is to be
wrought."
2. Part two. Chap. 2.6 to Chap. 4.1, setting forth the actual
condition of Israel and the judgment of the coming day of Jehovah.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee
in the dust, from before the terror of
Jehovah, and from the glory of his
majesty. 1 1 The lofty looks of man
shall be brought low, and the haughti¬
ness of men shall be bowed down, and
Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that
day.
1 2 For ’there shall be a day of Jeho¬
vah of hosts upon all that is proud and
haughty, and upon all that is lifted up;
and it shall be brought low; 13 and up¬
on all the cedars of Lebanon, that are
high and lifted up, and upon all the
oaks of Bashan, 14 and upon all the
high mountains, and upon all the hills
that are lifted up, 15 and upon every
lofty tower, and upon every fortified
wall. 16 and upon all the ships of
Tarshish, and upon all pleasant ‘imag¬
ery. 1 7 And the loftiness of man shall
1 Or, Jehovah of hosts hath a day
J Or, watch-towers
be bowed down, and' the haughtiness of
men shall be brought low; and Jehovah
alone shall be exalted in that day. 18
And the idols {shall utterly pass away.
1 9 And men shall go into the caves of
the rocks, and into the holes of the
earth, from before the terror of Jeho¬
vah, and from the glory of his majesty,
when he ariseth to shake mightily the
earth. 20 In that day men shall cast
away their idols of silver, and their
idols of gold, which have been made for
them to worship, to the moles and to
the bats; 21 to go into the caverns of
the rocks, and into the clefts of the
ragged rocks, from before the terror of
Jehovah, and from the glory of his
majesty, when he ariseth to shake
mightily the earth. 22 Cease ye from
man, whose breath is in his nostrils:
for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Vers. 10-22. The Judgment of the Coming Day of Jehovah.
Vers. 10. Such being their sin and their guilt they have nothing to
do in view of the terror of the judgment Jehovah has prepared for them
but to seek a hiding place from His wrath, the day of Jehovah being pic¬
tured as already come or near at hand.
Ver. 11. "in that day", —i. e., the day of Jehovah mentioned in
the next verse. In this verse 11 is summed up the result of Jehovah's
vindication of Himself "in that day" of coming judgment. The prophet
has used for the first time in this verse the expression "in that day," which
afterwards occurs so often. He points of course to the time which he had
before designated as "the last days".
Ver. 12. "the day of Jehovah ",—"This day", says Nagelsbach, "is
a day of judgment, as already even the older prophets portray it: (Joel
1.15: 2.1,2,11; 3.4; Amos 5.18,20)."
Fausset persists in thinking only or chiefly of the final period of judg¬
ment time. He says, "Man has many days; 'the day of Jehovah' shall
come at last, beginning with judgment, a never-ending day in which God
shall be 'all in all' (I Cor. 15.28; II Peter 3.10)."
"upon every thing ",—The version "every one" (E-V. Jun. Sep.)
limits the phrase too much to persons, which is but a part of the meaning
as conveyed in the expression "everything". (F. V. Al. Na. Del. Ges.) The
judgment was to come upon everything in which the nation prided itself.
Ver. 13. The prophet now begins to enumerate in pairs all the high
things upon which the judgment falls.
The cedars and oaks are not to be taken as emblems of great men in
general (V. Ges. Jer. Tar.), nor of the great men of Syria and Israel
47
ISAIAH
(Gro.), nor are they to be applied to the buildings erected by Uzziah and
Jotham out of the cedars and oaks grown in the places mentioned (Kn.).
They are to be taken not as symbols at all, but as samples or specimens of
their class. (Al. Na. Del.)
Ver. 14. "the high mountains . . . the hills", —'Not the fastnesses
to which they had recourse in times of danger (F. Bar.), nor the fortresses
erected by Jotham (Kn.), nor the mountaineers of Palestine (Oec.), nor
states and governments (Lo.), nor the high places on which sacrifices were
unlawfully offered (F.), but merely an additional specification of the gen¬
eral statement in verse 12. (Al.)
Nagelsbach says, “II Peter 3.10 seems to me to afford the best com¬
mentary of these last two verses, the high mountains and the hills being
names only as representatives of the entire terrestial nature, as also after¬
wards the towers, the ships of Tarshish, etc., are only representative of
human works, and thus also the productions of art.”
Delitzsch says, “What the prophet predicts was already actually be¬
ginning to be fulfilled in the military inroads of the Assyrians, the cedar
forests of Lebanon being unsparingly shorn", but he says, “This participa¬
tion of the lower creation in the judgment of God will come into special
prominence at the close of this world's history." He reminds us that
Scripture assumes throughout that all nature is joined with man, and is
under the influence of sin which proceeds from man and under the wrath
and grace which proceed from God to man."
Ver. 15. "upon every lofty tower and fortified wall", —A third
class of objects with which the idea of strength and loftiness are usually
associated. These are not symbols of military strength (Lo.), nor do they
refer to the fortifications built by Jotham and Uzziah (Kn.), although
these would doubtless come to mind.
Ver. 16. "the ships of Tarshish", —Suggesting the idea of the
largest class of vessels, justly included in this catalogue of lofty and im¬
posing objects, says Alexander.
"upon all pleasant imagery", —This seems to be one comprehensive
word for all that goes before: all attractive and majestic objects, and not
to be limited to “pictures" (A-V), nor “statues" (Mic. Ros. Do.), nor
“lofty images or obelisks" (Ew.), nor “tapestry" (C.), nor the gay flags
of the vessels (Ges.).
Ver. 18. "Fulfilled to the letter ",—says Fausset, “after the return
from the Babylonian captivity. For the future fulfillment, see Zech. 13.2
and Rev. 13.15; 19.20."
Ver. 19. The fulfillment answering exactly to the threat.
"to shake mightily the earth", —A figure of severe and universal
judgments.
Ver. 20. "to the moles and to the bats", —The idols are cast here
not alone that the wicked might facilitate their flight, but because they
belong there, to the gnawing beasts of night in all their unclean holes.
Ver. 22. An exhortation to renounce all trust in man, man who is
to be “brought low" and who is accounted as of little value. This verse
forms an appropriate transition to the following chapter.
48
ISAIAH
CHAPTER THREE
1 For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of
hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem
and from Judah stay and staff, the
whole stay of bread, and the whole stay
of water; 2 the mighty man, and the
man of war; the judge, and the prophet,
and the diviner, and the elder; 3 the
captain of fifty, and the honorable man,
and the counsellor, and the expert ‘arti¬
ficer, and the skillful enchanter. 4 And
I will give children to be their princes,
and *babes shall rule over them. 5 And
the people shall be oppressed, every
one by another, and every one by
his neighbor: the child shall be¬
have himself proudly against the old
man, and the base against the honor¬
able. 6 When a man shall take hold
of his brother in the house of his father,
saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our
'ruler, and let this ruin be under thy
hand; 7 in that day shall he lift up his
voice, saying, I will not ba 4 a healer;
for in my house is neither bread nor
clothing: ye shall not make me ruler of
the people. 8 For Jerusalem is ruined,
and Judah is fallen; because their tongue
and their doings are against Jehovah,
to provoke the eyes of his glory. 9 The
show of their countenance doth witness
against them; and they declare their sin
as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto
their soul! for they have done evil unto
themselves. 10 Say ye of the righteous,
that it shall be well with him; for they
shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill
with him; for what his hands have done
shall be done unto him. 1 2 As for my
people, children are their oppressors, and
women rule over them. O my people,
^r, charmer
J Or, with childishness shall they rule over them
'Or, judge
'Heb. a binder up
*Or, Their respecting of Persons doth &>c.
they that lead thee cause thee to err. and
'destroy the way of thy paths.
13 Jehovah standeth up to contend,
and standeth to judge the ‘peoples. 14
Jehovah will enter into judgment with
the elders of his people, and the princes
thereof: It is ye that have eaten up the
vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in
your houses: 15 what mean ye that ye
crush my people, and grind the face of
the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of
hosts.
16 Moreover Jehovah said, Because
the daughters of Zion are haughty, and
walk with out-stretched necks and wan¬
ton eyes, walking and mincing as they
go, and making a tinkling with their
feet; 17 therefore the Lord will smite
with a scab the crown of the head of
the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will
lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that
day the Lord will take away the beauty
of their anklets, and the 'cauls, and the
crescents; 19 the pendants, and the
'bracelets, and the mufflers; 20 the head-
tires, and the ankle-chains, and the
sashes, and the perfume-boxes, and the
amulets; 21 the rings, and the nose-
jewels; 22 the festival robes, and the
mantles, and the shawls, and the satch¬
els; 23 the hand-mirrors, and the fine
linen, and the turbans, and the veils.
24 And it shall come to pass, that in¬
stead of sweet spices there shall be rot¬
tenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope;
and instead of well set hair, baldness;
and instead of a robe, a girding of sack¬
cloth; branding instead of beauty. 25
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and
thy 10 mighty in the war. 26 And her
gates shall lament and mourn; and she
shall be “desolate and sit upon the
ground.
*Heb. swallow up
T Or, people
*Or, networks
®Or, chains
10 Heb. might
n Or, emptied
Vers. 1-26. The Day of Jehovah upon Jerusalem and Judah.
The judgment of Jehovah, which in the previous chapter was pro¬
claimed more especially in its universal character, is in this chapter referred
more especially to Jerusalem and Judah on account of their prevailing
iniquities.
Ver. 1. The chapter opens with a general prediction of the loss of
that in which they so much trusted, beginning in this first verse with the
two indispensible conditions of life, bread and water. This was literally
fulfilled in the siege under Nebuchadnezzar and afterwards by the siege of
Titus in the days of the Roman empire.
49
ISAIAH
Vers. 2-3. Next the supports of the State are to be removed; public
men, including civil, military and religious functionaries together with the
practitioners of the black art upon whom they relied.
Ver. 4. As a result of the judgment just announced the government
falls into weak and incompetent hands. "The "babes" are mentioned not
with respect to age but rather to character, i. e., little children in ability
so far as governing capacity goes.
Ver. 5. Anarchy, insubordination and confusion naturally result
from the regime of such imbecile rulers.
Vers. 6-7. At last the people would gladly make a ruler of anyone
who in the least rises above the universal wretchedness, who has even so
much as the semblance of a respectable garment, but not even such an one
is willing to accept office.
Vers. 8-9. All this disaster is but the result of their own sin and
they have but themselves to blame, for “they have done evil unto them¬
selves* \
Vers. 10-11. But God’s judgments are not indiscriminate; it shall
be well with the righteous but ill with the wicked.
Ver. 1 2. Then comes a resume, the whole course of thought from
verses 1 to 11 being comprehended again, while the prophet expresses won¬
der and concern at the result of the nation's unworthy and incapable rulers.
Ver. 13. Here, says Delitzsch, “the judgment of the world comes
anew before the prophet's mind." With this agrees Nagelsbach, who says
that “here we are introduced into quite another moment of time, the judg¬
ment of the nations, not, however, the judging of the nations generally,
but only the judgment of the people of God as a part of the universal
judgment, and then too not of the nation in its totality, but of the de¬
stroyers of this totality, the princes and the elders, as seen in the following
verse."
“standeth up", —i. e., ready and prepared for instant execution of the
judgment.
"to plead ",—The word means to conduct a cause for another or for
one's self, and is here to be taken in the sense of accuse. God stands—the
Accuser and Judge and Executioner in one Person,
Vers. 14-15. In these verses the Lord’s accusation turns especially
upon the incompetent and faithless rulers who have become the spoilers
of His vineyard instead of its guardians, and the oppressors of the people
instead of their protectors.
Vers. 16-24. The prophet breaks off in the midst of his descrip¬
tion of the judgment-scene and threatens the women with punishment,
privation and disgrace as one of the principal causes of the prevailing evils
because of the pride of their hearts, their luxury and extravagant ornamen¬
tation and outward conduct.
Vers. 25-26, and Chap. 4.1. Among the agencies in this retribu¬
tion is a disastrous war by which the men of the land are so reduced in
numbers that the unnatural state of things will be brought about wherein
women will not be sought by men but the men by the women.
50
ISAIAH
3. Part three. Chap. 4.2 to 6, reverting to the safe and glorious
condition of the future kingdom.
CHAPTER FOUR
2 In that day shall the ‘branch of
Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and
the fruit of the ®land shall be 'excellent
and comely for them that are escaped of
Israel. 3 And it shall come to pass,
that he that is left in Zion, and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called
holy, even every one that is written
4 amoQg the living in Jerusalem; 4 when
the Lord shall have washed away the
filth of the daughters of Zion, and
shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem
J Or, shoot Or, sfrout
J Or, earth
*Or, missing
*Or, unto Ufa
Vers. 2-6. The GLORIOUS CONDITION OF THE FUTURE KINGDOM.
Ver. 2. The division of this and the previous chapter is plainly
wrong, for verse 1 is the closing one of the prophecy against the women
as found in the previous chapter.
"In that day ",—This is the same day as that mentioned in verse 1
and refers back to "the last days" of Chap 2.2, as well as to the calamitous
times between, on the ground of course that this is all one prophecy, which
Alexander says is now universally accepted, even by the modern Germans.
Delitzsch says, "The prophet now proceeds to describe the one great
day of God at the end of time in its leading features, as beginning with
judgment but bringing deliverance.
There are those, however, who contend that these chapters contain
a series of detached prophecies between the beginning and the closing sec¬
tions, the latter part of Chap. 2 referring to the great judgment of the
closings days, while Chap. 3, they maintain, refers to pre-Messianic times.
(Na. Ei. Kop. Ber.)
"the branch of Jehovah" and "the fruit of the land"
1. These are doubtless two names for the Messiah, denoting perhaps
His divine and human origin. (V. F. Al. La. Um. Ros. Dre. Cas.
Ste. Del. Tar. Hen. Cha. Strac.)
2. Others say the two expressions are synonomous for the produce
of the earth. (Ma. Ew. Hof. Hit.) But,
(a) This is incongruous with the predicates, honorable, glorious,
sublime, beautiful.
(b) It is precluded by the addition of the name Jehovah.
(c) The parallel breaks down because the relation between the
branch and Jehovah must be the same as that between the
fruit and the land.
(d) It is quite unsuited for forming a contrast that would quite
outshine the worldly glory hitherto prevailing.
51
from the midst thereof, by the 'spirit
of justice, and by the 'spirit of burning.
5 And Jehovah will create over 'the
whole habitation of mount Zion, and
over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke
by day, and the shining of a flaming
fire by night; for over all the glory
shaft be spread a covering. 6 And there
shall be a pavilion for a shade in the
daytime from the heat, and for a refuge
and for a covert from storm and from
rain.
s Or, blast
"Or, every dwelling place
ISAIAH
3. Others say the first phrase means spiritual gifts of God in con¬
trast or opposition to temporal and earthly gifts." (C. Ju. Na.
Schl.)
(a) But the last phrase means the offspring of* the earth and so
must the first one mean the offspring of Jehovah, and this
expression can only be applied to persons.
" them that are escaped of Israel ",—Fausset quite aptly remarks that
this finds its fulfillment after the fashion of concentric circles, the reference
being to the elect remnant (Rom. 11.3), (1) in the return from Babylon,
(2) in the escape from Jerusalem's destruction under Titus, and (3) in
the still future assault on Jerusalem and the deliverance of the "third part".
Ver. 3. "he that is left in Zion . . . that remaineth in Jerusalem ",—
i. e., the " escaped of Israel" of verse 2, the remnant of grace, says Delitzsch.
"shall be called holy", —He shall not only be hoiy but shall be recog¬
nized as such.
" written among the living in Jerusalem", —The marginal reading, we
think, carries the idea somewhat better. The verb has in it the idea ol
"written as destined for", and there is always the presupposition of a divine
"Book of Life." (C. V. D. Na. Al. Ju. Mi. Um. Ew. Lo. Lu. Del. Coc.
Mic. Ges. Hen. Cle.) Fausset says it refers primarily to the register kept
of the Jewish families and antitypically to the Book of Life, as in Phil.
4.3 and Rev. 3.5.
Ver. 4. " daughters of Zion", —The women before mentioned (F.
Al. Del.), and not the other towns of Judah (Um. Ros. Hen.).
" blood of Jerusalem", i. e., the bloodguiltiness of Jerusalem, of the
people in general, especially the rulers.
"by the spirit" ,—The word should be capitalized, the reference being
to the Holy Spirit (C. Al. Ew. Del. Lut.), and not to "influence" (Ges.
Hen.) nor to "breath" (Um.).
Ver. 5. The presence of God, here denoted by the ancient symbol of
a fiery cloud, is promised to the Israelites of the final redemption-days.
"over all the glory", —i. e., that previously mentioned.
"a covering’’, —A promise of refuge and security. (Al. Um. Ew.
Hen. Del.) Alexander looks for the complete fulfillment of this prophecy
not, as he says, "in the literal Mount Zion or Jerusalem, but in those
various assemblies or societies of true believers which now possess in
common the privileges once exclusively enjoyed by the Holy City and the
chosen race." But that there is as well a further and more remote reference
in the prophecy, as the majority maintain, can scarcely be denied.
CHAPTER FIVE
Israel to Reap the Fruit of Her Disobedience.
A new prophecy, entire in itself, being the concluding discourse of
the first cycle of prophecy and containing a description of the prevalent
iniquities of Israel and the judgments which had been or were to be
inflicted on the people in consequence.
52
ISAIAH
Vers. 1-7. The prophet represents Israel as a vineyard from which
the Lord had expected the fruits of righteousness, but it had brought
forth bad fruit.
Vers. 8-24. What sort of bad fruit is seen in a sixfold woe which is
pronounced upon the people.
Vers. 25-30. The devastation foretold is seen first in a figurative
description of a violent stroke of God’s hand, and then in the shape of
an invading army before whom Israel disappears, as it were, in total
darkness.
Nagelsbach says, "The prophecy finds its fulfillment in all the
catastrophes that brought foreign powers against Israel, from the Assyrians
to the Romans,’’ and with this Delitzsch and practically all others are in
agreement.
Nagelsbach furthermore refers the expression, “in that day " in verse
30 back to Chap. 2.11,17,20; 3.7,18; 4.1 and 4.2, and says, "that
hereby is intimated that this prophecy too, shall be fulfilled in the ’last
days'."
It should, however, by no means be thought necessary to always
throw the reference in the expression, “in that day’ to the end-time;
in this particular instance it quite appropriately refers to the time in
which the events of the immediately preceding verses are to take place, and
the primary reference of these is without doubt to the besieging armies of
the Assyrians.
CHAPTER SIX
The Inaugural Vision of the Prophet.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long?
And he answered, Until cities be waste
without inhabitant, and houses without
man, and the land become utterly waste,
1 2 and Jehovah have removed men far
away, and the forsaken places be many
in the midst of the land. 13 ‘And if
’Or, but yet in it shall be a tenth, and it
shall return, and shall be eaten uf
there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in
turn be 2 eaten up: as a terebinth, and as
an oak, 3 whose 4 stock remaineth, when
they 5 are felled; so the holy seed is the
stock thereof.
■Or, burnt
*Or, whose substance is in them
’Or, substance
°Or, cast their leaves
Vers. 11-13. The Elect Remnant the Guarantee of a New Life
and a New Glorious Future.
Ver. 11. “Lord, how long ",—Not how long must he be the
bearer of this thankless message (Hit.), but how long shall the blindness
of his people continue. (F. Al.)
“until cities be waste", etc .,—Grotius supposes the allusion is to Sen¬
nacherib s invasion, while Clericus and Kimchi think it is to that of
Nebuchadnezzar; but as the foregoing description is repeatedly applied in
the New Testament to the Jews who were contemporaneous with our
Saviour, the threatening must be equally extensive and is equivalent to
saying that the land shall be completely wasted not at one time but
repeatedly, as Alexander says.
53
ISAIAH
Ver. 12. “the forsaken places be many ",—The literal rendering
is, “great shall be that which is left in the land". The reference, however,
is to the land itself (F. Al. Del.), and it does not mean therefore that
“many ruins“ shall be left (Ges.), nor a “great vacancy" (Ew.), nor
that those left in the land shall be multiplied (Sep. Vul.).
Ver. 13. According to Isaiah not all Israel, but the elect remnant
alone is destined to salvation.
“in turn*, —This is better than “return” of the Authorized Ver¬
sion; the tenth left in the land could hardly, says Alexander, be described
as returning to it.
“whose stock remaineth”, —The word for “stock” is variously trans¬
lated; “substance”, i. e., vitality (Al.), “stump” (Na.), “sap” (Tar.),
“root” (D.), “trunk” (Ges.), “germ” (Hit.), “stock” (F. Del.). The
etymology of the word and the connection seem to favor “substance”.
The thought is the same. The stock of the tree when felled of course
contains this substance, this vitality, etc.
“the holy seed is the stock thereof ”,—The remnant of the tenth
is the stock or the substance from which the nation is to be renewed.
“However frequently”, says Alexander, “the people may seem to be
destroyed, there shall still be a surviving remnant, a tenth, and however
frequently this very remnant may appear to perish, there shall still be a
remnant of the remnant left and this indestructible residuum shall be the
holy seed, the elect remnant according to grace (Romans 11.5).”
“There is nothing tougher than the life of this everlasting Jew.”
Section Two . The Assyrian Oppression and the Coming Messiah.
Chapters 7 to 12.
Chapters 7 to 12 deal only with the deliverance of Judah from
Syria and Israel; the subsequent subjection of Judah to Assyria and other
foreign powers; the final destruction of Judah’s enemies, and the advent
of the Messianic kingdom.
CHAPTER EIGHT
9 *Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and
be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye
of far countries; gird yourselves, and be
broken in pieces; gird yourself and be
broken in pieces.
1 Or, Break, 0 ye
Ver. 9. The Enemies of Judah to be Broken in Pieces.
The prophecy refers primarily to the attack of Rezin and Pekah.
Fausset and Horsley think, “It probably looks on also to the final con¬
spiracy of Antichrist and his supporters against the Heir of David’s throne
in the latter days and to their overthrow.” There is, however, no sufficient
reason for finding such a reference in connection with the passage under
discussion.
54
ISAIAH
CHAPTER NINE
The calamity predicted is not to be perpetual.
1 'But there shall be no gloom to her
that was in anguish. In the former
time he brought into contempt the land
of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali;
but in the latter time hath he made it
glorious by the way of the sea, beyond
the Jordan, ’Galilee of the nations. 2
The people that walked in darkness have
seen a great light: they that dwelt in the
land of the “shadow of death, upon
them hath the light shined. 3 Thou
hast multiplied the nation, 4 thou hast in¬
creased their joy: they joy before thee
according to the joy in harvest, as men
rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4
For the yoke of his burden, and the
staff of his shoulder, the rod of his
] Or, For
J Or, the district
'Or, deep darkness
'Another reading is, thou didst not increase
the joy .
oppressor, thou hast broken as in the
day of Midian. 5 For “all the armor of
the armed man in the tumult, and the
garments rolled in blood, shall be for
burning, for fuel of fire. 6 For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is
given; and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called "Wonderful, Counsellor,
Mighty God. ’Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his gov¬
ernment and of peace there shall be no
end, upon the throne of David, and upon
his kingdom, to establish it, and to up¬
hold it with justice and with righte¬
ousness from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will per¬
form this.
B Or, every boot of the booted warrior
*Or, IVonderful Counsellor
T Heb. Father of Eternity
Vers. 1-7. The Birth and Reign of the King of Peace.
Ver. 1. “her that was in anguish ",—i. e., Judah.
“the land of ”, etc., —The same region is described first by the tribes
which occupied it, and then by its relative position with respect to the
river Jordan and the sea, i. e., the sea of Galilee. The country formerly
most debased was to receive peculiar honor, as explained in the next verse.
“But”, —Some take the last verse of the preceding chapter as the beginning
of the promise and so translate this word "For". (AI. Mi. Ma. Hit. Hen.
Del.) It is, however, less abrupt to take the preceding words as a threat
and translate with our text as “But“. (Na. Ew. Ros. Ges.)
“tn the latter time”, —i. e., in Messianic times.
Ver. 2. “The people”, —i. e., the Galileans just mentioned. (V.
AI. Na. Ju. Mic. Hend.) The reference is not then to all Israel (Ma.), nor
to Judah (C. Kim.), nor to the people of Jerusalem (Gro.), nor yet to
the people of God, the spiritual Israel (Coc.). Of course the reference is
extended to the whole of Israel. The light came by way of Galilee where
Christ first and most publicly exercised His ministry. The verse is descrip¬
tive of a great change from ignorance and misery to illumination and
enjoyment.
Ver. 3. “Thou hast multiplied the nation”, —The reference here
is to Israel, i. e., to Israel in general, that had melted down to a small
remnant after their return from captivity. (F. Na. Del. Hit.)
“they joy before thee”, —This is to be taken as holy joy, in the sense
of religious worship. (V. F. AI. Ew. Coc. Hit. Hen. Del.)
Ver. 4. The reason for this holy joy.
“thou hast broken”, —The past is here used for the future in
prophetic vision and expresses the certainty of the event.
55
ISAIAH
“his”, —Not the oppressor's (Bar. For.), but Israel’s, the nation's.
“as in the day of Midian”, —i. e., when Gideon overthrew Midian,
suddenly, totally and with the miraculous help of heaven, the reference
being to that wonderful, display of divine power which took place in the
same part of the land to which this prophecy refers.
That this prediction refers primarily to the times of the coming
Messiah is evidenced beyond doubt by content of verse 6.
Alexander says, “This promise was not fulfilled in the deliverance
of the Jews from Babylon (C.), nor in the destruction of Sennacherib’s
army (Gro.), nor in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (Mi.), but
it was fulfilled in the glorious deliverance of the Gentiles (the first converts
to Christianity) and of all who with them made up the true Israel, from
the heavy burden of the covenant of works, the galling yoke of the Mosaic
law, the service of the Devil, and the bondage of corruption.”
Many authorities, on the other hand, think we are warranted in
seeing with Fausset and others a reference in these verses to the days of
the final Antichrist. Fausset says, “The deliverance referred to was not
only that of Ahaz and Judah from the Assyrian tribute (II Kings 16.8)
and of Israel (the ten tribes) from the oppressor (II Kings 15.19), but
of the Jewish Christian Church from its last great enemy. As Gideon,
with a handful of men conquered the Midian hosts, so Messiah and the
small Israel under Him shall overthrow the mighty hosts of the Anti¬
christ, containing the same contrast, and alluding also to the ‘Assyrian’,
the then enemy of the Church, as here in Isaiah the type of the last great
enemy.”
Horsley says, “The prophet sees in a vision a shifting scene compre¬
hending at one glance the history of the Christian Church to the remotest
times—a land dark and thinly peopled—lit up by a sudden light—filled
with new inhabitants—then struggling with difficulties and again deliv¬
ered by the utter and final overthrow of their enemies.”
Again we are confronted with the question of a spiritual or literal
interpretation.
Ver. 5. “tolled in blood”, —Not merely dyed (Hit.), but stained
with the blood of conflict.
“for fuel of fire”, —Fire is mentioned merely as a powerful consum¬
ing agent to express the abolition of the implements of war. The com¬
plete fulfillment of the prediction, says Alexander, will only be when the
lion and the lamb lie down together.
Ver. 6. The child here predicted refers of course to Christ. By
many it is explained to be Hezekiah (Ja. Kim. Gro. Pau, Ges. Hens,
Hend.). But this is exegetical helplessness of a pathetic sort, and the view
is even rejected by such modern Germans as Eichorn, Umbreit, Ewald and
Hitzig.
Ver. 7. “peace”, —The Hebrew word denotes not only peace as
opposed to war, but welfare and prosperity. The angel choir proclaiming
His birth sang of this peace and good will.
“there shall be no end”, —i. e., it is to be both universal and eternal.
56
ISAIAH
“upon the throne of David”, —The Prince was to be a descendant
of David.
“judgment’’, —i. e., righteous government.
“justice”, —i. e., righteousness which He practices and transmits to
the members of His kingdom.
CHAPTER TEN
Vers. 1-4. The prophet first completes his picture of the prevailing
iniquity of his people and then threatens as a punishment the death and
deportation which is to come through the invasion of the Assyrian army.
Vers. 5-19. The predicted judgment of Jehovah upon Assyria who
has been but a rod in His hand for the chastisement of Israel.
Vers. 20-23.
20 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the remnant of Israel, and they
that are escaped of the house of Jacob,
shall no more again lean upon him that
smote them, but shall lean upon Jeho¬
vah. The Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 A remnant shall return, even the
remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty
God. 22 For though thy people.
Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a
remnant *of them shall return: a de¬
struction is determined, overflowing
with righteousness. 23 For a full end,
and that determined, will the Lord.
Jehovah of hosts, make in the midst of
all the 'earth.
’Heb. in it
2 Or, land
Vers. 20-23. The Believing Remnant Restored.
Ver. 20. “in that day”, —i. e., in the day when the destruction of
Assyria just foretold has taken place. "The prediction, however," says
Alexander, "although it began then to be fulfilled did not receive its final
fulfillment before Christ's appearance."
Scofield refers the expression to "the day of the Lord," and says, "The
prophecy here passes from the general to the particular, from historic and
fulfilled judgments upon Assyria to the final destruction of all Gentile
world-power at the return of the Lord in glory." The vision here, he
says, is that of the Jewish remnant in the great tribulation.
“the remnant of Israel”, —The reference is to those who shall be left
after the invasion of the Assyrian army, although in keeping with the
idea of continuous fulfillment it must refer, as Alexander says, as well to
those left after the Babylonian captivity and as well to the remnant ac¬
cording to the election of grace. (Romans 11.5.)
Fausset says, "Fulfilled in part in the days of pious Hezekiah; but
from the future aspect under which Paul in Romans 9.27,28 regards the
prophecy, the ‘remnant' who ‘stay upon the Lord' probably will receive
their fullest realization in the portion of the Jews left after the Antichrist
shall have been overthrown, who shall ‘return to the Lord'. (Zeph. 3.12;
Zech. 12.9,10.)"
“lean upon him”, —i. e., upon the Assyrian, who here stands also as
the representative of foreign help in general.
Ver. 21. “The remnant shall return”, —Fausset remarks, "As the
Assyrians in the reign of Sennacherib did not carry Judah (the house of
57
ISAIAH
Jacob) away captive, the returning remnant cannot mainly refer to this
. • M
time.
Alexander says, “It really means those who should survive God’s
judgments threatened in this prophecy, not merely the Assyrian invasion
or the Babylonian captivity, but the whole series of remarkable events
including the destruction and the dispersion of the nation by the Romans
under Titus."
Ver. 22. “For though thy people be ",— (Lut. Ges. Bar.) Others
prefer “shall be," as referring to the ancient promise of Gen. 13.16 (C. Lo.
Al. Coc.), while still others (D. Ew. Um. Hit. Del. Aug. Hend.) render,
“For even if thy people were".
“thy people' —The whole race, and neither Judah nor Israel alone.
“a destruction is determined ",—i. e., of the majority of them.
“righteousness ",—The meaning is not that of “piety" or “virtue"
(C. Gro.), but rather that of retributive and punitive justice. (F. V. Ai.
Ma. Del.)
Ver. 23. “a full end ",—i. e., a thorough destruction or con¬
sumption.
“all the earth ",—The judgment is to be a universal one of which
that on Israel is a central constituent.
Vers. 24-27. Now comes a renewed prediction of severe judgment
upon Assyria like that which came on Midian £t Oreb and on Egypt at
the Red Sea.
Vers. 28-32. Scofield would have us believe that these verses de¬
scribe the approach of the Gentile hosts to the battle of Armageddon, but
this appears as somewhat strained, and it is much simpler to take this
section as describing the march of the Assyrians under Sennacherib against
Jerusalem. (F. Na. Al. Del.) This latter may, however, serve as a type
of the former.
Vers. 33-34. These verses relate doubtless to the destruction of
Sennacherib’s army, rather than to the destruction of the Gentile hosts
under the Beast as described in Revelation 19.20, as Scofield would have us
take it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1 And there shall come forth a shoot
out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch
out of his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And
the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and under¬
standing, the spirit of counsel and
might, the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of Jehovah. 3 And ‘his 1 * 3 * * * * 8 de-
light shall be in the fear of Jehovah;
and he shall not judge after the sight
of his eyes, neither decide after the hear¬
ing of his ears; 4 but with righteous-
1 Or, he shall be of quick understanding
8 Heb. scent
ness shall he judge the poor, and decide
with equity for the meek of the ‘earth;
and he shall smite the ‘earth with the
rod of his mouth; and with the breath
of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5
And righteousness shall be the girdle of
his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of
his loins.
6 And the wolf shall dwell with the
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid; and the calf and the young
lion and the fatling together; and a
s Or, land
58
ISAIAH
little child shall lead them. 7 And the
cow and the bear shall feed; their young
ones shall lie down together; and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And
the suckling child shall play on the hole
of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the adder's den. 9
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain: for the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of Jehovah,
as the waters cover the sea.
10 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the root of Jesse, that stand-
eth for an ensign of the peoples, unto
him shall the nations seek; and his rest¬
ing-place shall be 'glorious.
11 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the Lord 2 will set his hand
again the second time to ‘recover the
remnant of his people, that shall re¬
main. from Assyria, and from Egypt,
and from Pathros, and from Cush, and
from Elam, and from Shinar. and from
Hamath, and from the ‘islands of the
] Heb. glory
a Or, will again the second time recover with
his hand
s Or, -purchase See Ex. 15, 16.
*Or, coast-lands
Vers. 1-16. The Kingdom of David and How It Will Be Estab¬
lished.
"This chapter," says Scofield, "is a prophetic picture of the glory of
the future kingdom. This is the kingdom announced by John the Bap¬
tist as ‘at hand’. It was then rejected, but will be set up when David s
Son returns in glory. That nothing of this occurred at the first coming
of Christ is evident from a comparison of the history of the times of Christ
with this and all other parallel prophecies. So far from regathering dis¬
persed Israel and establishing peace in the earth, His crucifixion was soon
followed by the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter scattering of the
Palestinian Jews amongst the nations of the world."
Ver. I. "the stock of Jesse ",—The reference is to the "stump"
(F. AI. Del.), showing the depressed state of the house of David. It
should not therefore be translated "seed" (Ab.), nor "root" (Sep.), nor
"trunk" (Ges. Hit. Hend.). Jesse is used here instead of David to inti¬
mate perhaps that David's stock will be reduced to its rank previous to the
time of David when it was only the stock of the obscure citizen of Beth¬
lehem.
The reference is not to Hezekiah (Ab. Hend.) , because he was already
born, and his house was not in the condition here described. Nor is the
reference to Zerubbabel, nor to the Maccabees, who were not even descend¬
ants of Jesse, nor to an ideal Messiah (D. Ei. Ew. Hit. Ges. Bau. Ros.),
but to Jesus Christ.
Ver. 2. "the Spirit of Jehovah ",—The general designation of the
self-same Spirit afterwards described in detail. He being the author of what
sea. 1 2 And he will sec up an ensign
for the nations, and will assemble the
outcasts of Israel, and gather together
the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth. 1 3 The envy also
of Ephraim shall depart, and they that
vex 4 Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim
shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall
not vex Ephraim. 14 And they shall
fly down upon the shoulder of the
Philistines on the west; together shall
they despoil the children of the east:
they shall put forth their hand upon
Edom and Moab; and the children of
Ammon shall obey them. 15 And Je¬
hovah will ‘utterly destroy the tongue
of the Egyptian sea; and with his
scorching wind will he wave his hand
over the River, and will smite it into
seven streams, and cause men to march
over dryshod. 16 And there shall be a
highway for the remnant of his people,
that shall remain, from Assyria; like as
there was for Israel in the day that he
came up out of the land of Egypt.
D Or, in Judah
6 Heb. devote
59
ISAIAH
thus rests upon Christ. It is an old opinion that the seven Spirits of
Revelation have reference to the seven Spirits of this verse.
Ver. 3. “his delight ’’,—The Hebrew word means to delight in the
odor of a thing, literally to “scent", and the meaning is that the fear of
the Lord is fragrance to Him.
“he shall not judge”, etc .,—His decisions shall not rest upon mere
external appearances or hearsay.
Ver. 4. “the breath of his lips ”,—This has been taken to mean a
sentence of death (Coc. Hit. Cle. Hend.), as a natural expression of anger
(D. Ges.), as a secret influence producing conviction (V. Aba. Kim.), but
the proper thought seems to be that a word of his mouth, or a mere breath,
as something even less than a word, is sufficient to effect His purpose. (C.
Al. Ew.)
Fausset says, “The everlasting deliverance under the Messiah's reign
spoken of in this chapter refers not merely to His first coming but chiefly
to His second coming. It implies that the earth will be very wicked when
He shall come to judge and reign. His reign shall therefore be ushered in
with judgments upon the apostates. He, as the word of God, comes to
strike that blow which shall decide His claim to the kingdom, previously
usurped by Satan and the Beast to whom Satan delegates his power. It
will be a day of judgment to the Gentile dispensation as the first coming
was to the Jews."
Alexander says, “Paul in I Thess. 2.8 applies these words with little
change to the destruction of Antichrist at the second coming of Christ. It
does not follow, however, that this is a specific and exclusive prophecy of
that event, but only that it comprehends it, as it evidently does."
Ver. 6. This and the next two verses have been taken in three dif¬
ferent ways:
1. As literal, but only a beautiful dream and wish never to be real¬
ized. Rationalistic interpreters.
2. “A literal change in the relation of animals to man and to each
other, restoring the state in Eden, is the most likely interpreta¬
tion." (F.)
3. As wholly metaphorical, describing the peace to be enjoyed by
God’s people under the new dispensation. (C. V. Al. Hen. Del.
Lut. Schm., and the early Fathers.)
One of the advocates of this last view (Naylor) remarks, “Any one
with physiological knowledge of the difference between the structure of
herbivorous and carnivorous animals, or with any knowledge of dentistry,
will at once see that the lion could no* more eat straw like an ox than he
could fly to the moon; even if his teeth were changed so that he could
masticate the straw, it would prove fatal to him, since he could by no
means digest or assimilate it. This is simply a figure of the peace that
would come to humanity as a result of Christ's coming as a Saviour into
the world. It is true now."
Campbell Morgan, however, remarks concerning these verses, “You
cannot spiritualize that passage. It is a plain statement of the fact that,
under the sway of the Redeemer, the ferocity of wild beasts shall depart,
and nature itself shall feel the blessed influence of the reigning Prince ol
60
ISAIAH
Peace. I have been asked whether this Golden Age will be marked by
dietetic abstinence from flesh. While I do not believe in vegetarianism for
today, except under certain conditions, I may express the belief that nature
itself will then be free from everything that savours of cruelty; for ‘they
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain'. Certain it is that
the lower animals will be vegetarians, for ‘The lion shall eat straw like
an ox'." (See Nagelsbach in Lange's Commentary on Isaiah, page 163.)
Ver. 8. “the hole of the asp",—The word " hole " as well as the
word “den” properly denotes a cavity admitting light and no doubt the
reference in each case is to the beautiful eye of the serpent and the cockatrice.
Ver. 9. “my holy mountain”, —i. e. f Mount Zion, and Jerusalem
in particular.
“for”, —i. e., because.
Ver. 10. “a root of Jesse”, —The literal is "root-sprout"; it is the
root of Jesse, now under ground, as it were.
“the nations”, —i. e., the Gentiles.
“his resting place shall be glorious”, —The reference is not to the rest
(A-V) which He gives to His people, but to His residence, the place where
He resides, in which He dwells, i. e., His Kingdom.
Ver. 11. “set his hand a second time to recover the remnant ",—
The remnant here refers to those living at the time the deliverance takes
place, or more restrictedly to the remnant according to grace. (C. Al.)
“a second time”, —"Therefore", says Fausset, "the coming restora¬
tion of the Jews is to be distinct from that after the Babylonian captivity,
and yet to resemble it. The first restoration was literal; therefore shall
the second be; the latter, however, to be much more universal as is here
implied."
Thus also Blackstone who says, "In the first restoration only those
who were minded came back from Babylon (Ezra 7.13) ; but in the future,
or second restoration, not one will be left. (Deut. 30.4; Isa. 43.5-7; Ezek.
34.11-13; Ezek. 39.28-29.) In the first restoration it was members of
the two tribes who returned; in the second, or future restoration it will be
both the two and the ten tribes. (Jer. 3.1 8 ; Ezek. 36.1 0; 37.1 5-22.) At
the first restoration they returned to be overthrown and driven out again;
but in the second they shall return to remain, no more to go out. (Amos
9.15; Ezek. 34.28; Isa. 60.15,16; 49.22,23; Mic. 4.1,2; Zech. 8.20-23;
14.16.) In the first restoration, because of their blindness they rejected
and crucified Jesus; but in the future restoration they shall repent of all
this and*have clean hearts and accept Christ who shall be their Saviour.
(Zech. 12.10-14; Jer. 31.9,10,33; Ezek. 36.24-28; 37.23-27; 34.23,24;
Jer. 23.3-6.)
Scofield remarks here, "Comment upon a passage so explicit should
be superfluous. I will ask you only to note that the prophet declares the
restoration here predicted to be the ‘second'; that it cannot refer to the
partial restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah, from the Babylonian cap¬
tivity, because, first, it is not a deliverance from Assyria only, but the
regathering of a world-wide dispersion, and, second, because both Israel
(the ten tribes) and Judah are gathered. Ezra and Nehemiah, as is well
known, led back only a remnant of Judah with a few Levites."
62
ISAIAH
Alexander says, “It is not second in reference to the return from
Babylon, but to the deliverance from Egypt. The complete fulfillment is
to be expected only when all Israel shall be saved. The dispersion spoken
of was not merely such as had taken place already at the date of the pre¬
diction (Ges.), but others still in the future (Hen.), including not only
the Babylonian exile, but the present dispersion."
The countries mentioned are put for all in which the Jews should be
scattered. The event prefigured is, according to Fausset, Keith and many
others, the still future return of the Jews to Palestine, while by others (C.
V. Hen.) it is their admission to Christ’s kingdom on repentance and the
reception of the Christian faith. Alexander thinks the prediction must be
figuratively understood because the nations mentioned in this verse have
long since ceased to exist.
Ver. 12. “nations", —The Gentile nations, not especially those
holding captive the Jews, as if calling them to release the captives and assist
them in returning, but the call shall be to Gentile nations in general to
come themselves.
“the outcasts of Israel", —The dispersed of the ten tribes are so called
because they have been longer and more utterly cast away.
Ver. 13. “ they that vex Judah", —i. e., those in Ephraim.
“That this prediction was not fulfilled in the return from exile is
sufficiently notorious: That it had not been fulfilled when Christ came is
plain from the continued enmity between the Jews, the Samaritans and
the Galileans. The only fulfillment it has ever had is in the abolition of
all national and sectional distinctions in the Christian Church. Its full
accomplishment is yet to come in the reunion of the tribes under Christ
(Hos. 1.11)". (Al.)
Ver. 14. “the children of the east", —i. e., the Arabians.
Ver. 15. “the tongue of the Egyptian sea", —This is the narrow
gulf in which the Red Sea terminates to the northwest near Suez through
which the Israelites passed when they left Egypt.
“with his scorching wind", —Literally, “in the glowing puff of His
breath."
“smite it into seven streams", —i. e., the River Euphrates to be divided
into many smaller ones, as Cyrus divided the Gyndes, so as to be easily
forded. Egypt and Assyria were the two greatest powers from which
Israel had suffered and from which she was yet to be delivered,* and the
thought emphasized here is that all obstacles to return shall be removed,
and this is set forth by strong figures drawn from the earliest history of
the Israelites.
Ver. 16. The fulfillment of this and the other verses has been sought
by some in the return from Babylon; by others in the general progress of
the Gospel, and by others still in the future restoration of the Jews.
The return from Babylon was of course only a partial fulfillment,
but against the last named view Alexander urges the figurative expressions
of the destroying the tongue of the Red Sea, etc.
62
ISAIAH
HAPTER TWELVE
This is a Thanksgiving hymn of the restored and converted Jews,
cofield and many others think it belongs to the time of the Millennial
ingdom, but this of course depends upon the view that one takes of the
receding chapter, as it is quite certain that the expression "in that day"
lakes it contemporaneous with the same expression in that chapter.
action Three . Prophecies Concerning the Heathen; Their Judgment and
Their Salvation.
Chapters 13 to 23
HAPTER THIRTEEN
1 The ’burden of Babylon, which
Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2 Set ye up an ensign upon the bare
mountain, lift up the voice unto them,
wave the hand, that they may go into
the gates of the noblep, 3 I have com¬
manded my consecrated ones, yea, I
have called my mighty men for mine
anger, even 2 my proudly exulting ones.
4 The noise of a multitude in the
mountains, as of a great people! the
noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of
the nations gathered together! Jehovah
of hosts is mustering the host for the
battle. 5 They come from a far coun¬
try, from the uttermost part of heaven,
even Jehovah, and the weapons of his
indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is
at hand; as destruction from ‘the Al¬
mighty shall it come. 7 Therefore shall
all hands be feeble, and every heart of
man shall melt: 8 and they shall be
dismayed; 4 pangs and sorrows shall take
hold of them; they shall be in pain as a
woman in travail: they shall look in
amazement one at another; their faces
shall he faces of flame. 9 Behold, the
day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with
wrath and fierce anger; to make the
land a desolation, and to destroy the
sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the
stars of heaven and the constellations
thereof shall not give their light; the
sun shall be darkened in its going forth,
and the moon shall not cause its light
to shine. 11 And I will punish the
world for thetr evil, and the wicked
for their iniquity: and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and
will lay low the haughtiness of the
^r, oracle concerning
J Or, them (Mat exult in my majesty
8 Heb. Skaddai. See Geo. 17.1.
4 Or, they shall take hold of “Pangs (ttyl sor¬
rows.
terrible. 12 I will make a man more
rare than fine gold, even a man than the
pure gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore 1
will make the heavens to tremble, and
the earth shall be shaken out of its
place, in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts,
and in the day of his fierce anger. 14
And it shall come to pass, that as the
chased B roe, and as sheep that no man
gathercth, they shall turn every man to
his own people, and shall flee every man
to his own land. 1 5 Every one that is
found shall be thrust through; and
every one that is ‘taken shall fall by the
sword. 16 Their infants also shall be
dashed in pieces before their eyes; their
houses shall be rifled, and their wives
ravished.
17 Behold. I will stir up the Medes
against them, who shall not regard sil¬
ver, and as for gold, they shall not de¬
light in it. 18 And their bows shall
dash the young men in pieces; and they
shall have no pity on the fruit of the
womb; their eye shall not spare chil¬
dren. 19 And Babylon, the glory of
kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’
pride, shall be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall
never be inhabited, neither shall it be
dwelt in from generation to generation:
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent
there; neither shall shepherds make their
flocks to lie down there. 21 But wild
beasts of the desert shall lie there; and
their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there,
and wild goats shall dance there. 22
And ’wolves shall ‘cry in their castles,
and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and
her time is near to come, and her days
shall not be prolonged.
•Or, gazelle
"Or, joined thereunto
T Heb. howling creatures
•Or, answer
63
ISAIAH
Vers. 1-22. The JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED ON THE BABYLONIAN EM¬
PIRE and the Final Overthrow and Destruction
of Babylon Herself, Through the Conquests of
the Medes and Persians.
In speaking of the day of the Lord that is to come upon Babylon,
the prophet in verses 9 to 1 3 seems to use language, as Horsley says, which
can only primarily and partially apply to Babylon, but which applies more
fully and exhaustively to the judgments to come hereafter upon the whole
world.
Scofield remarks, “The city, Babylon, is not in view here, as the im¬
mediate context shows. It is the political Babylon which is in view, liter¬
ally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the
Gentiles. By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. In
Revelation religious Babylon, apostate Christianity, is destroyed by political
Babylon (Rev. 17.16), and political Babylon is destroyed by the coming
of the Lord in glory (Rev. 19.19-21). Verses 1 2 to 1 6 of our chapter
look forward to the Apocalyptic judgments (Rev. 6-13 L Verses 17-22
have both a near and a far view. They predict the destruction of literal
Babylon then existing and this has been literally fulfilled. But the place
of this prediction in a great prophetic strain which looks forward to the
destruction of both politico-Babylon and ecclesio-Babylon in the time of
the Beast shows that the destruction of the actual Babylon typifies the
greater destruction yet to come upon the mystical Babylon."
That the chapter has such a typical reference we have no reason to
doubt, but there is less reason to doubt that its primary reference is to
the downfall of the literal Babylon existing in the days of the prophet.
Alexander puts the matter thus: “The truth, however, seems to be, first,
that the downfall of Babylon, an opponent and persecutor of the ancient
Church, affords a type of emblem of the destiny of all opposing powers
under the new Testament; and, secondly, that in consequence of this
analogy the Apocalyptic prophecies apply the name Babylon to the Anti
Christian power. But these Apocalyptic prophecies are new ones, not
interpretations of the one before us." But surely if it is a type of the one
it is equally a type of the other.
Nagelsbach says, “Isaiah regards the judgment against Babylon as
the germ-like beginning of ‘the day of the Lord' in general."
Ver. 1. “ burden", —i. e., a weighty or mournful prophecy, heavy
because the wrath of God is in it.
Ver. 2. “upon the bare mountain', —From such a height the banner
could be seen from afar to rally the people against Babylon.
“shake the hand", —i. e., beckon the nations on toward their marchi
against the city.
The pronoun "them" refers to the Medes and the Persians, while “ the
nobles" refers to the Babylonians.
Ver. 3. "my consecrated ones", —The warriors are so called because'
the war is a holy one.
Ver. 5. "from a far country ",—i. e., from Media and Persia.
"from the end of heaven ",—This is not perhaps a geographicali
64
ISAIAH
description, but a statement as to from what point he sees them coming,
i. e., from the remotest point in sight, the boundary line of the horizon.
"the whole land ",—i. e., of Babylonia.
Nagelsbach thinks it is quite improbable that by the expressions in
this verse Isaiah would designate the Medes and Persians. With regard to
the expression, "the whole land", he says, "The end that the Lord will
accomplish by means of 'the weapons of His indignation' is to overturn
'the whole earth'. ‘The whole earth! For this judgment on Babylon
belongs to 'the day of the Lord'. It is thus an integral part of the world's
judgment."
Ver. 6. “the day of Jehovah ",—i. e., the day of His vengeance on
Babylon, and a type of the future "day of wrath."
Says Nagelsbach, "Here we see in verses 6 to 8 how plainly the
prophet would represent the judgment on Babylon as a part of the world's
judgment. For the traits that now follow are entirely taken from the
descriptions of the world’s judgments as we meet them already in the older
Prophets, and as, on the other hand, the later New Testament descriptions
of the great day of judgment connect with our present one."
Ver. 9. " cruel with wrath and fierce anger ",—i. e., unsparingly
just; opposed to mercy.
"fo lay the land desolate ",—i. e., as in verse 5, the land of Babylonia,
primarily of course. Some make it the earth without reservation. (Ew.
Um. Sep.), while Knobel understands the term as an allusion to the uni¬
versal sway of the Babylonian Empire.
Ver. 10. Here is the usual description or the usual Scriptural char¬
acteristics of the “day of the Lord "—any day of His judgment. Here it
must be figurative for anarchy, distress and revolutions of kingdoms,
"although," says Fausset, "there may be a literal fulfillment finally, shad¬
owed forth under this imagery." (Rev. 21.1.)
Ver. 11. “the world ",—This is doubtless a poetical equivalent for
Babylon as embracing most of the then known world, although the wider
reference usual to the prophecy may also be included.
Ver. 1 2. Scofield would make this verse refer to the Jewish remnant
in the great tribulation, and the next verse to that tribulation period itself.
But this seems somewhat strained and arbitrary. The reference is doubt¬
less to the scarcity of men in consequence of the slaughter of Babylon’s
defenders, while verse 13 is to be taken in the same sense as verse 10.
Ver. 17. Here we are made aware for the first time who are to be
the executors of God's judgment against Babylon.
“shall not regard silver . . nor delight in gold ",—"In vain", says
Fausset, "will one try to buy his life from them for a ransom." "The
Prophet intimates", says Nagelsbach, "that they are impelled by higher
motives than common love of booty—perhaps a thirst for revenge (Del.),
but they might also have their source in an impulse to fulfill some mission
of which they were unconscious."
65
ISAIAH
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1 For Jehovah will have compassion
on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,
and set them in their own land: and the
sojourner shall join himself with them,
and they shall cleave to the house of
Jacob. 2 And the peoples shall take
them, and bring them to their place;
and the house of Israel shall possess
them in the land of Jehovah for serv¬
ants and for handmaids: and they shall
take them captive whose captives they
were; and they shall rule over their
oppressors.
Vers. 1,2. Babylon's Destruction and Israel's Restoration and
Exaltation.
Ver. 1. “will yet choose", —i. e., choose again; still treat them as
His chosen, their restoration being grounded on their election.
“the strangers shall be joined with them ”,—The reference is here to
the proselytes from the heathen who had joined themselves to Israel. “An
earnest", says Fausset, “of the future effect on the heathen world of the
Jews’ spiritual restoration."
Ver. 2. The meaning is that the people of Babylon will bring the
Jews back to their own land, i. e., to the land of the Jews, the “they" in
the latter half of the verse referring to the Jews.
“shall possess them", —i. e., the Gentiles.
Cocceius, at one extreme, finds the whole fulfillment in the final
deliverance of the Christian Church from persecution in the Roman empire,
while Clericus, at the other, applies it to the number of foreign servants
that the Jews brought back from exile.
Calvin and Fausset make the change predicted an altogether moral
and spiritual one, the conquest of the true religion over those who were
once its physical oppressors.
The fact is there is a twofold fulfillment, the lower physical one in
the literal exchange of places, as between the Jews and their oppressors,
which took place upon the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity,
and the higher spiritual one which is yet to be accomplished, but “not with
respect to the Jews as a people", says Alexander, “for their pre-eminence
has ceased forever, but with respect to the Church, including Jews and
Gentiles, which has succeeded to the rights and privileges, promises and
actual possessions of God’s ancient people."
As to whether it is to have a still future literal fulfillment depends
upon one’s method of treating the whole line of such prophecies.
Vers. 4-23. Israel’s Song of Triumph Over Her Fallen Enemy.
Scofield, not without considerable strain in his exegesis, gives a future
setting to the whole of the chapter; the first seven verses referring to the
Millennial kingdom as set up; verses 7 and 8 to the joy of that kingdom;
verses 9 to 11 to the mystical Babylon, the beast in hell; verses 12 to 17
to an address by the Beast to Satan in hell (to what purpose?) ; verses 18
to 23 to the judgment on mystical Babylon in the final world-battle.
T^hcse verses, however, in their entirety are with far greater simplicity
and consistency referred to the king and people of Babylon, Lucifer, in
66
ISAIAH
irerse 12, meaning merely 'the shining one", "the bright star", "the morn¬
ing star", which in Latin is called "lucifer", and there is therefore no occa¬
sion for the popular perversion of this beautiful name to signify the Devil.
Fausset says, "The language is so framed as to apply to the Babylonian
king primarily, and at the same time to shadow forth through him, the
great final enemy, the man of sin, Antichrist, of Daniel, Saint Paul and
Saint John; he alone shall fulfill exhaustively all the lineaments here
given."
Blackstone says that in Lucifer the Antichrist is seen, of whom the
king of Babylon was a type, and who weakens the nations, exalts his
"throne above the stars of God, and sits upon the mount of the congre¬
gation."
Vers. 24-27. A Prophecy Against the Assyrian Host Under
Sennacherib.
This was doubtless given, as Alexander says, as a sort of a pledge
to accredit the prediction against Babylon, or for the purpose of assuring
the people that while God had decreed their deliverance from remoter dan¬
gers (Babylonian oppression), He would also protect them from those
near at hand.
Ver. 26. " purposed upon the whole earth ",—"This universality",
says Scofield, "is significant and marks the whole passage as referring, not
merely to a near judgment upon Assyria, but in a yet larger sense to the
final crash of the present world-system at the end of the age."
Fausset also here remarks, "This is a hint that the prophecy embraces
the present world of all ages in its scope, of which the purpose concerning
Babylon and Assyria, the then representatives of the world-power, is but
a part."
Alexander says, "On the supposition that this prophecy relates to
Assyria alone, we are obliged to understand 'the whole earth’ and 'all
nations' as describing the universal sway of this great power at that time
in question."
Vers. 28-32. A Prophecy Against Philistia.
This prophecy is a warning to the Philistines who had also suffered
from the Assyrian power and were disposed to exult unduly because of
its overthrow, since they were yet to suffer greater bondage. Fausset
thinks it was given to comfort the Jews lest they should fear the Philistines.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
This chapter, together with the following one form one prophecy
concerning the downfall of Moab.
"This burden," says Scofield, "had a precursive fulfillment in Sen¬
nacherib's invasion, B. C. 704, three years after the prediction (Isa. 16.14) ,
but the words have a breadth of meaning which includes also the final
world-battle."
67
ISAIAH
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for
Moab. be thou a covert to him from the
face of the destroyer. For 'the extor¬
tioner is brought to nought, destruction
ceaseth. 'the oppressors are consumed out
of the land. 5 And a throne shall be
established in lovingkindness; and one
shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of
David, judging, and seeking justice, and
swift to do righteousness.
2 0r, extortion
8 Heb. the treaders down
Vers. 1-5. The Davidic Kingdom Foreseen.
They are, in verse 1, exhorted to send tribute to Jerusalem for the
reason set forth in verse 2.
Older writers maintain that these verses as well as the next ones are
addressed by the prophet to Moab and they are exhorted to submit them¬
selves to Israel and to show mercy to her in her affliction (Moab being one
of the lands to which Israel is said to have fled when oppressed by Nebu¬
chadnezzar—Jer. 40.11,12), thus preparing for the day of their own
calamity when the Israelites will be in a position to assist them because
(the reason being given in the last clause of verse 4 and in verse 5) the
cessation of all violent oppression is near at hand and the dominion of the
kingdom of God under one great line of David shall be set up. (V. Na.
Bar.) The Prophet foresees that Moab will be too proud (verse 6) to
pay the tribute or to conciliate Judah by sheltering its outcasts; therefore
judgment shall be executed.
Others, however, (F. Ho. Ew. Ma. Del. Ges.) take verses 3 and 4
as the address of the suppliant Moab, asking Israel to show kindness to
her; the outcasts in this case being those of Moab. Verse 5 is then taken
as a promise to Israel if they shelter the outcasts of Moab.
There are difficulties attending either explanation, though not serious
in either case. The latter explanation, which is in agreement with our
text, is perhaps to be preferred, in which case it would seem better to take
the first two verses with Alexander as a mutual exhortation of the Moabites
to themselves in their confusion and distress.
Most interpreters, ancient and modern, take the verbs in the last
clause of verse 4 in the future sense, as is often done in Hebrew, though
they be in the past tense grammatically. This gives an appropriate sense
whether the words be addressed to Israel or to Moab.
Fausset says, “By the time that Moab begins to beg Judah for shelter,
Judah shall be in a condition to afford it, for the Assyrian oppressor shall
have been ‘consumed out of the land*."
Ver. 5. “in truth ”,—One who is truthful and reliable. “A king”,
as Delitzsch says, “who makes truth the criterion of his actions."
“judging and seeking judgment and hasting righteousness ",—“The
language is so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King
Messiah when the Lord 'shall bring again the captivity of Moab'.” (F.)
1 Send ye the lambs for the ruler of
the land from ’Selah to the wilderness,
unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be that, as wandering
birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the
daughters of Moab be at the fords of
the Arnon. 3 Give counsel, execute
justice; make thy shade as the night in
the midst of the noonday; hide the out¬
casts; betray not the fugitive. 4 Let
3 Or, Petra
68
ISAIAH
Says Alexander, "The words of verse 5 are intended to include a
reference to all the good kings of the house of David, not excepting the
last King of that race, to whom God was to give the throne of his father
David, who was to reign over the house of Jacob forever and of whose
kingdom there should be no end."
Scofield says that verses 1-5, which are a continuation of the prophecy
against Moab, shows the "tabernacle of David" set up, the next event in
order after the destruction of the Beast and his armies.
Says Nagelsbach, "Isaiah sees in spirit the end of the world-power,
therefore the cessation of all violent oppression and the dominion of the
kingdom of God under a great one of the line of David."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A Prophecy of Desolation To the Kingdoms of Syria and
Ephraim (verses 1-11), Closing with a General Threaten¬
ing Against the Enemies of Judah (verses 12-14).
Here again Scofield says, "As in the burden of Moab, there was doubt¬
less a near fulfillment in Sennacherib's approaching invasion, but verses
12 to 14 as evidently look forward to the final invasion and battle of
Armageddon."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 Ah, the land ’of the rustling of
wings, which is beyond the rivers of
^Ethiopia; 2 that sendeth ambassadors
by the sea, 'even in vessels of papyrus
upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift
messengers, to a nation 4 tall and smooth,
to a people terrible from their beginning
onward, a nation “that meteth out and
‘Or, shadowing with wings
*Heb. Cush.
*Or, and
•Or, dragged away and peeled
•Or, meted out and trodden down Heb. of
line, line, and of treading down.
treadeth down, whose land the rivers
“divide!
7 In that time shall a present be
brought unto Jehovah of hosts from a
people 4 tall and smooth, even from a
people terrible from their beginning on¬
ward, a nation that meteth out and
treadeth down, whose land the rivers
divide, to the place of the name of
Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion.
®0r, have despoiled
Vers. 1,2,7. The Danger and Deliverance of Ethiopia.
Ver. I. The introductory particle in verse 1 is not one that carries
in it the idea of a threat, but rather one of appeal, a particle of calling, and
should not be rendered "Woe," as in the Authorized Version. (F. Al.)
Ver. 2. On the supposition that the people described in verses 2
and 7 are Ethiopians; the command to "Go" may be taken, as in our text,
as a command of the Ethiopians to their own messengers to go and call
the people to preparation for battle; or the word “saying” may be omitted,
and the command be taken as that of the prophet (F. Al. Na. Del.) asking
the messengers to carry to their own people announcement, either (1) that
69
ISAIAH
God Himself would without their help undertake the destruction of the
common enemy of Israel and Ethiopia (Al.) or (2) that they should
gather themselves together for the battle. (Na. Del.)
Of the two explanations the latter in each case is to be preferred.
Ver. 7. The older view, and especially Jewish, was that the people
described in this verse and verse 2 were the people of Israel, and that the
prophecy relates to the restoration of the Jews. The language used is
supposed to be descriptive of their degraded and oppressed condition. (F.
Ho. Ew. Kn. Hof. Mei. Sco. Then.) The descriptive language as applied
to the Ethiopians refers to their warlike qualities.
"present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts from a people”, etc .,—Of
those who refer the two verses in question to the Jews, some refer the
present to the exiled Jews sent back to Jerusalem by the Ethiopians, while
Horsley, Fausset and others refer the whole matter to the restoration of the
Jews in the latter times.
Fausset says, "Horsley is probably right that the ultimate and fullest
reference of the prophecy is to the restoration of the Jews in the Holy Land
through the instrumentality of some distant people skilled in navigation,
perhaps England, which may of course be included in the description of all
remote lands 'beyond' the Nile's mouths."
Of those who refer the verses in question to the Ethiopians the present
is the presentation of the Ethiopians with their gifts by themselves. The
decision is not an easy one, but the latter one seems by far the better. The
Ethiopians were then an earnest and partial fulfillment of what is still to
take place in larger measure in the future.
This latter view is that of the older Christian writers and relates itself
to the calling of the Gentiles. The prophecy as such has never yet come
true but is being fulfilled throughout this dispensation while it waits for
complete fulfillment in the latter days. (See Chap. 66.19.)
CHAPTER NINETEEN
This chapter falls easily into two parts, one of which (verses 1-17)
contains a threatening against Egypt, and the other (verses 18-25)
promises.
On the whole it is better to take these last verses in a sense similar to
the last verses of the preceding chapter, as a prediction of the calling of the
Gentiles, and to think that just as the prophet had described the downfall
of Egypt in the first part under figures borrowed from the then actual con¬
dition of Egypt, so in the second part he describes the introduction of the
true religion by figures drawn from the religious institutions of the old
economy.
CHAPTER TWENTY
This chapter contains a continuation of the subject of the preceding
one, but at a later date, and relates to the captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia.
70
ISAIAH
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
This chapter relates to the conquest of Babylon by the Medes and
Persians (verses 1-10); to the conquest of Edom, or the Arabian tribe
Dumah (verses 11-12) and finally to that of Arabia herself (verses
13-17).
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
While the second part of this chapter is devoted to a prediction con¬
cerning an individual, Shebna, who is to be removed from office, the first
part of the chapter is given to a prediction of the overthrow of Jerusalem
by the armies of Sennacherib.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
This chapter also consists of two parts. The first predicts the fall
of Tyre, of which God is the author and the Chaldeans His instruments;
the second part relates how Tyre shall be forsaken and forgotten for
seventy years (verse 15), after which she shall be restored to her former
flourishing condition (verses 16,17), and her wealth thereafter devoted
to the Lord. This latter statement seems to be the more reasonable ex¬
planation of verse 18, because otherwise it would be hard to conceive how
the Lord would restore a nation on which He had inflicted His vengeance,
in order that it may begin again its old life of harlotry, and how the wages
of this prostitution could be consecrated to the Lord, since in Deut. 23.18
it is expressly forbidden to bring the '‘hire of a whore" into the house of
the Lord.
If verse 18 be taken in this sense it must be the mystical Tyre that is
thought of in this verse, as it was the mystical Ethiopia in Chapter 18 and
the mystical Egypt and Assyria in Chapter 19, but in either sense this part
of the prophecy of course waits complete fulfillment in days yet to come.
Says Fausset, "Her traffic and her gains shall at last be consecrated to
Jehovah. Jesus Christ visited the neighborhood of Tyre, Paul founded
disciples there; it early became a Christian bishopric, but the full evangeli¬
zation of that whole race, as of the Ethiopians themselves (Chap. 18)
and of the Egyptians and Assyrians (Chap. 19) is yet to come (Chap.
60.5)."
Section Four. Prediction of Coming Desolation and Deliverance there¬
from together with Songs and Thanksgiving.
Chapters 24 to 27.
It is by no means easy to determine the principal reference throughout
this portion of the prophet’s writing. There are two general views.
View 1. Delitzsch says, "The cycle of prophecy that begins here
finds a counterpart in the Old Testament only perhaps in Zech. 9-14.
Both of these sections are eschatological and apocalyptic in content."
71
ISAIAH
Faussct says, ”The prophet passes to the last times of the world at
large and of Judah the representative and future head of the churches.
The four chapters form one continuous poetical prophecy, descriptive of
the dispersion and successive calamities of the Jews (Chap. 24.1-12) ; the
preaching of the Gospel by the first Jewish converts throughout the world
(verses 13-16); the judgments on the adversaries of the Church and its
final triumph (verses 16-23); thanksgiving for the overthrow of the
apostate faction (Chap. 25) ; establishment of the righteous in lasting
peace (Chap. 26) ; judgment on leviathan and entire purgation of the
Church (Chap. 27).”
Nagelsbach says, "The prophet transports himself in spirit to the
end of all things. He describes the destruction of the world.”
Biackstone says, “From these chapters an idea may be gained of the
terrible character of the tribulation period, during which Antichrist will
also be revealed. Some, especially from the remnant of Israel, will accept
Christ and become His witnesses, and be slain by the Antichrist. These
we call the tribulation saints, who are to be raised at the close of the great
tribulation, as the gleanings of the great harvest of the first resurrection.”
View 2. On the other hand Alexander, with others, maintains that
the main reference of the prophecy is to the coming Babylonian conquest
and its outcome, and that the land in question is Palestine.
There are questions most perplexing, and for which no solution alto¬
gether satisfactory has been found, connected with either view. The view
of Alexander, at first thought, seems the simpler and more natural, espec¬
ially if we may see in these prophecies a typical or secondary reference to
final times.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Judgment upon the Earth Foretold.
1 Behold, Jehovah maketh the 'earth
empty, and maketh it waste, and turn-
eth it upside down, and scattereth
abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2 And
it shall be, as with the people, so with
the priest; as with the servant, so with
his master; as with the maid, so with
her mistress; as with the buyer, so with
the seller; as with the creditor, so with
the debtor; as with the taker of inter¬
est, so with the giver of interest to him.
3 The earth shall be utterly emptied,
and utterly laid waste; for Jehovah hath
spoken this word. 4 The earth mourn-
eth and fadeth away, the world lan¬
guished! and fadeth away, 1 * 3 the lofty
people of the earth do languish. 5 The
earth also is polluted under the inhabit¬
ants thereof; because they have trans¬
gressed the laws, violated the statutes.
'Or, land (and so in ver 3, 4, &c.)
*Or, the high ones of the feofle
broken the everlasting covenant. 6
Therefore hath the curse devoured the
earth, and they that dwell therein are
found guilty: therefore the inhabitants
of the earth are burned, and few men
left. 7 The new wine mourneth, the
vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted
do sigh. 8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth,
the noise of them that rejoice endeth.
the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9 They
shall not drink wine with a song;
strong drink shall be bitter to them that
drink it. 10 The waste city is broken
down; every house is shut up. that no
man may come in. 11 There is a cry¬
ing in the streets because of the wine;
all joy is darkened, the mirth of the
land is “gone. 12 In the city is left
desolation, and the gate is smitten with
destruction.
5 Heb. gone into captivity
72
ISAIAH
Vers 1-12. The Beginning of the Judgment.
According to view one, the eschatological view, the judgment here is
upon the earth. It is, as Delitzsch says, “universal, not merely within the
borders of Palestine, but as regards the inhabitants of the earth, for the
word here used means earth, and implies even the New Testament ethical
idea of kosmos."
According to view two, that of Alexander and others, by earth is
here meant Palestine, the word “earth" and “world" not to be taken in
their widest sense, but as poetical descriptions of the land of Palestine.
According to view one the “waste city" of verse 10 is the city as the
center of the world and its alienation from God, the city in general.
According to view two the reference is to Jerusalem.
Concerning verses 1 to 12 Nagelsbach says, “If 1 am to state what
future events will correspond to this prophecy of the first act of the judg¬
ment of the world, it appears to me that the description of the prophet
corresponds to what our Lord in His discourse on the last things says of
the signs of His coming, and of the beginning of sorrows (Matt. 24.6-8;
Mk. 13.7-8; Lu. 21.9). And the beginning of sorrows corresponds again
to what the Revelation of John represents under the image of seven seals,
seven trumpets and seven vials (Rev. 6. sqq.)."
13 For thus shall it be in the midst
of the earth among the peoples, as the
'shaking of an olive-tree, as the glean¬
ings when the vintage is done.
14 These shall lift up their voice,
*Heb. beating
they shall shout; for the majesty of
Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea.
15 Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the
*east, even the name of Jehovah, the God
of Israel, in the 'isles of the sea.
Kir, lights Or, first
*Or, coast-lands
Vers. 13-15. The Remnant and Their Song.
Ver. 13. "as the shaking . . . as the gleanings ",—These are figura¬
tive expressions for the remnant, the few left after the judgments foretold.
"in the midst of the earth ",—Some authorities place a comma after
"earth", thus making "among the peoples" the place where the remnant
is scattered, but our text emphasizes rather the extent of the desolation
before described, and is perhaps the smoother reading.
Ver. 14. "These ",—Not the “nations" (Schel.), nor the Jews left
in Palestine (Bar.), but the remnant, the dispersed survivors of these judg¬
ments.
“There will be", says Delitzsch, “as few men left in the gteat wide
world as olives and grapes after the principal harvest in each case. Those
who are saved belong especially, but not exclusively (Joel 3.5) to Israel.
The place where they assemble is the land of Promise."
Alexander, according to view two, confines this remnant of course
to the dispersed Jews after the Babylonian invasion and conquest.
"from the sea", —i. e., from the lands beyond the sea whither they
have escaped.
Ver. 15. This verse is an exhortation by the prophet to the remnant
(Al.), and not the song of the remnant continued, as Ewald thinks.
"in the east ",—The literal is “fires". The weight of exegetical
73
ISAIAH
authority favors the reading of our text, as against “fires" of the Author¬
ized Version, the east being the region of sunrise or of dawning light.
This corresponds well to the ' 'isles of the sea”, the west.
16 From the uttermost part of the
earth have we heard songs: Glory to the
righteous.
But I said, ‘I pine away, I pine away,
woe is me! the treacherous have dealt
treacherously; yea, the treacherous have
dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, and
the pit, and the snare, are upon thee,
O inhabitant of the earth. 18 And it
shall come to pass, that he who fleeth
from the noise of the fear shall fall
into the pit; and he that cometh up out
of the midst of the pit shall be taken in
the snare: for the windows on high are
opened, and the foundations of the earth
tremble. 19 The earth is utterly brok¬
en, the earth is rent asunder, the earth
1 Heb. Leanness to me.
is shaken violently. 20 The earth shall
stagger like a drunken man, and shall
sway to and fro like a hammock; and
the transgression thereof shall be heavy
upon it. and it shall fall, and not rise
again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that
day that Jehovah will ’punish the host
of the 3 high ones on high, and the kings
of the earth upon the earth. 22 And
they shall be gathered together, as pris¬
oners are gathered in the ‘pit, and shall
be shut up in the prison; and after many
days shall they be ‘visited. 23 Then
the moon shall be confounded, and the
sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will
reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem;
and before his elders shall be glory.
a Heb. visit upon
•Heb. height
*Or, dungeon
s Or, -punished
Vers. 16-23. The Consummation of the Judgment.
Ver. 16. “we heard songs”, —The songs of the remnant in disper¬
sion wafted toward Jerusalem as a distant chorus.
‘‘glory to the righteous”, —By “ righteous” is here meant righteous
men in general (F. Al. Na. Del.), and not God (Hend.).
Nagelsbach says, “From the first clause of this verse we perceive that
the remnant, the elect of God, are hidden in a safe place, gathered on the
holy mountain and there find protection (Chap. 4.5), but this is just the
occasion for the signal to be given for the occurrence of the last and most
frightful catastrophe, the judgment on the ungodly."
"But I said ”,—The prophet of course connects himself with the
blessed experiences of the future, but at once becomes conscious of the suf¬
ferings that must first of all be experienced, and realizing that he cannot
see these without also experiencing them, he connects himself with them.
We hear promises and praise but our actual experience is misery.
“the treacherous”, —i. e., the foreign nations that oppress Jerusalem.
Ver. 17. This verse explains the wretchedness spoken of in verse 16.
“Fear”, —The Hebrew word denotes a feathered device which when
fluttered in the air scares the beasts into the pit or the birds into the snares.
Ver. 18. The prophet is here threatening the guilty earth with
instant vengeance.
“the windows on high are opened” ,—Either to produce a deluge,
with manifest reference to Gen. 7.11 (Al. Del.), or that other weapons of
his vengeance may descend, wind, fire, thunder, lightning, drought, pesti¬
lence, which also in a sense may be said to descend from heaven (F. Kn.
Na.). Perhaps, in view of the promise that the earth should not again
be destroyed by water (Gen. 9.11), the latter explanation is preferable,
although even so the figure may be drawn from the passage in Genesis.
74
ISAIAH
“the foundations of the earth tremble' \—The reference here is mani¬
festly to earthquakes. Thus, "the globe of the earth", says Nagelsbach.
"is assailed from above and from beneath. The reference of the whole
passage is not a local, but a universal one.
Ver. 19. Says Delitzsch, "The earth first gets fractured, then yawn¬
ing chasms open, once more it sways to and fro, and falls."
Ver. 20. “it shall fall and not rise again ",—Nagelsbach says,
"These words are dear proof that the total destruction of the globe of the
earth in its present form is the subject treated of. In its present form!
For the earth shall rise again in a higher, holier form beyond the range of
sin and its consequence, death. For there is a new heaven and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,"
Ver. 21. “the host of the high ones on high ”,—
(1) The high earthly potentates. (C. Al. Lut, Hav. Tar.)
But this plainly destroys the antithesis which is evident in the
verse.
(2) The starry host, the heavenly bodies, as in Chap. 34.4. (Sm.
Um. Hof. Baud.)
But the idea of personality runs through the entire verse and
the contrast between inanimate objects and earthly powers for
the purpose noted, i. e., imprisonment, does not go well to¬
gether.
(3) The wicked angels, invisible heads of the worldly powers, are
no doubt intended. (F. Na. Kn. Ab. Del. Hit. Ros.)
Ver. 22. “gathered together as prisoners” ,—The persons meant are
of course the principalities and powers mentioned in the preceding verse.
“after many days they shall be visited”, —This visitation may be in
mercy (C. F. He, Pe. Ew. Kn. Hit. Luz. Kim.), or it may be in wrath
(Al. Ho. Na. Ei. Um. Del. Ros. Ges. Sco. Mor. Bla. Tor. Hend.).
Fausset, who takes the visitation as one of mercy, says, "The 'shutting
up' of the Jews in Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, and again under
Titus, was to be followed by a visitation of mercy ' after many days —
seventy years in the case of the former—the time is not yet elapsed in the
case of the latter."
Those who hold the reference of the prophecy to be to the times of
the end think here of a visitation of wrath upon the ungodly Gentile world-
powers. The “pit”, they say (Na. Del.), is used for Sheol, as oftentimes
(Chap. 15.15,19; 38.18).
Nagelsbach says, "But not merely the binding of those angelic and
worldly powers, their being set loose for a time is also announced by the
prophet. Only by a brief, obscure word, probably not seen through by
himself, does the prophet intimate this. Even we should not understand
this word if the revelation of the New Testament, which is nearer the time
of the fulfillment, did not throw light on this dark point. It declares
expressly that after a thousand years Satan should be loosed out of his
prison. Isaiah here uses the indefinite ' after many days . This visitation
can be a gracious one, but it can also be a new stage in the visitation of
75
ISAIAH
judgment. The setting loose of Satan is only the prelude to his total
destruction." With this Delitzsch and many others are in accord.
Ver. 23. Because Jehovah reigns all inferior luminaries were to be
eclipsed. "The simple meaning of the verse," says Alexander, "appears
to be that Jehovah’s reign over His people shall be more august than that
of any created sovereign." The elders, he maintains, are the rulers of
Israel as the Church. Among the supporters of view one we find Scofield
referring the content of this verse to the kingdom age, while Nagelsbach
says, "The earth now becomes the common dwelling place of God and
man; the heavenly Jerusalem now descends upon the renovated earth, and
in this city where Jehovah reigns there is no need of sun or moon, for the
Lord Himself is its light." Delitzsch says, "Then the Lord reigns with
His own in the New Jerusalem in such glory that the silvery moon shame¬
facedly veils itself, and the glowing sun is confounded with shame, because
in the presence of such glory the two great lights of heaven will be, accord¬
ing to a Jewish expression, like a lamp in the noontide sunshine. Then
shall 'elders’ after God’s own heart be given to the Israel of the Jerusalem
of the future."
It is evident after careful study that the difficulties attending the
second view are greater than those of the first, and to this view we are
inclined—that which takes the passage as foretelling last-time events—
even though we may not be able to fully comprehend the prophetic words
in all their detail. What the prophet has left indefinite we must not
attempt to make specific.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
1 O Jehovah, thou are my God; I
will exalt thee, I will praise thy name;
for thou hast done wonderful things,
even counsels of old, in faithfulness and
truth. 2 For thou hast made of a city
a heap, of a fortified city a ruin, a
palace of strangers to be no city; it
shall never be built. 3 Therefore shall
a strong people glorify thee; a city of
terrible nations shall fear thee. 4 For
thou hast been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm, a shade from
the heat, when the blast of the terrible
ones is as a storm against the wall. 5
As the heat in a dry place wilt thou
bring down the noise of strangers; as
the heat by the shade of a cloud, the
song of the terrible ones shall be
brought low.
Vers. 1 -5. Thanksgiving for the Overthrow of the Oppressors.
In keeping with the two views under consideration, Delitzsch, repre¬
senting the first one, says, "The prophet transported to the end of time
celebrates in psalm and song what he saw, praising God for having de¬
stroyed the mighty city of the world and for having proved Himself the
shield and defense of the hitherto oppressed community against the tyranny
of the city of the world", while Alexander, representing the second view,
says, "We have in these verses a thanksgiving to God for the destruction
of Babylon and the deliverance of the Jews."
Ver. 2. "made of a city a heap ",—The "city" according to view
one is to be taken as ih Chap. 24.10, city in general; according to view
two it is Babylon.
Ver. 3. "a strong people ",—Not the Jews, but other nations which
were compelled to own Jehovah conqueror.
76
ISAIAH
"The fall of the world-power", says Delitzsch, "is followed by the
conversion of the heathen who submit to Jehovah with proper reverence."
Says Alexander, "The destruction of Babylon and the fulfillment of
the prophecy thereby, shall lead even the boldest and wildest of the heathen
to acknowledge Jehovah as true God. It may just as well denote a com¬
pulsory extorted homage, fear being taken in its proper sense, and the verse
may then be taken as a description of the effect produced by Jehovah's
overthrow of Babylon on the Babylonians themselves."
It is evident that if “city" in verse 2 be referred to Babylon, which
is there spoken of as destroyed and never to be built, the “city" of this
verse cannot refer to Babylon, which fact is an argument for the first view
of the meaning of this word.
Ver. 4. “the poor . . . the needy", —i. e., the Jews in dispersion. The
nations shall reverence Jehovah, not merely as the destroyer of the oppress¬
ing power, but as the deliverer of His own people.
6 And in this mountain will Jehovah
of hosts make unto all peoples a feast
of fat things, a feast of wines on the
lees, of fat things full of marrow, of
wines on the lees well refined. 7 And
he will ’destroy in this mountain the
face of the covering that covereth all
peoples, and the veil that is spread over
all nations. 8 He hath swallowed up
1 Heb. swallow up
death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah
will wipe away tears from off all faces;
and the reproach of his people will he
take away from off all the earth: for
Jehovah hath spoken it.
9 And it shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited
for him, and he will save us: this is
Jehovah: we have waited for him, we
will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Vers. 6-9. The Feast in Zion for All Nations.
Ver. 6. Here begins again the eschatological prophecy, resuming the
thread of the discourse interrupted at the end of the last chapter. (Na. Al.
Del.) The feast is a spiritual feast, says Nagelsbach and Delitzsch, of
which not only Israel but “al! peoples" are to partake, the feast being on
earth, says Delitzsch, because the Old Testament knows nothing of a
heaven where blessed men are gathered.
Nagelsbach says that in the New Testament it appears in Luke 14.16
as the Great Supper, in Matt. 22.1 as the Marriage of the King's Son, and
in Rev. 19.7,9,17 as the Marriage of the Lamb, in which latter place the
counterpart of this feast is set forth.
Alexander says, "There is nothing to indicate the time when the
promise should be fulfilled, nor indeed to restrict it to any time in par¬
ticular. Jerusalem has always more or less fulfilled the office here ascribed
. M
to It.
Ver. 7. The expressions here used are symbolical, not of grief and
mourning, as many, if indeed not most interpreters take it, the veiling of
the face being the sign of mourning; but it is a symbolical expression of
spiritual blindness, as in II Cor. 3.15,16. But while the chief reference is
to the understanding, the thought of sorrow may be included, as indeed
this is but the result of spiritual ignorance.
Ver. 8. "Naturally," says Delitzsch, "this applies to the ecctesia
triumpham, the prophet's vision of things having brought him to the same
77
ISAIAH
point as that reached by Paul in I Cor. 15.28, and by John on the last
page of his Apocalypse."
Nagelsbach says, "John in Rev. 7.17 and 21.4 quotes our passage to
prove that he regards the things which he saw as a fulfillment not only
of his own prophecy but also of that spoken by Isaiah. The fulfillment
is on the new earth, the dwelling place of God with man."
Alexander says that the true sense of the passage is that all misery
and suffering comprehended under the generic name of death shall be com¬
pletely done away with, the words being a promise to God’s people of
the final, perpetual, triumphant abolition of death, which in its highest
sense may never be realized by any individual till after death.
Ver. 9. "The redeemed now see the Lord in whom they have hither¬
to only believed ." (Na.)
“we have waited ",—"We have waited but He has come at last to
vindicate His truth and our reliance upon him." (Al.)
10 For in this mountain will the
hand of Jehovah rest; and Moab shall
be trodden down in his place, even as
straw is trodden down 'in the water of
the dunghill. 11 And he shall spread
forth his hands in the midst “'thereof
as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his
Another reading 1 is, in the dunghill
2 Or, of them
hands to swim; but Jehovah will lay
low a his pride ^together with the craft of
S his hands.
1 2 And the high fortress of thy walls
“hath he brought down, laid low, and
brought to the ground, even to the
dust.
•Or, their
*Ot, for all the craft
•Or, will he bring down, lay low, and bring,
&*c.
Vers. 10-12. The Disgraceful Ruin of Moab Threatened.
Ver. 10. While Israel is being protected the foe is being destroyed.
“For in this mountain will the hand of Jehovah rest ",—i. e., as its
permanent protector. The joy is to be everlasting.
Moab and Edom were two hereditary inveterate enemies of Israel,
but quite often, as apparently here, both or either is taken as inclusive of
Israel's enemies in general. Indeed Moab must be included in the “all
nations ", and “all faces” of verses 6, 7 and 8, and must here be taken as
the representative of all the ungodly of all nations. Alexander persists of
course in identifying this mountain, Mount Zion, with the Church of New
Testament times.
“even as straw”, efc.,—Straw is cast into the filthy water of the
dunghole that it may be saturated by it and rendered fitter for manure.
Thus the Lord humbles the proud by making disgrace an element of their
punishment.
Ver. 11. The subject of the first verb is without doubt Moab (Lo.
Na. Al. Del. Hit. Gro.), and not Jehovah, as many have taken it. (F. C .)
It is the person cast into the hole seeking to save himself. To make Jeho¬
vah the swimmer does violence to the context and is highly offensive.
Those so construing it think of Jehovah as striking Moab here and there,
in every part, as a swimmer strikes the waves in every direction. But this
idea might have been expressed more clearly in a score of different ways.
Ver. 12. The figurative statement of verse 11 literally exemplified.
78
ISAIAH
he reference is not to the city mentioned in the second verse, but to the
ties of Moab in general.
HAPTER TWENTY-SIX
rael as Restored or Raised to Life Again.
1 In that day shall this song be sung
in the land of Judah; We have a strong
city; salvation will he appoint for
walls and bulwarks.
2 Open ye the gates, that the right¬
eous nation which keepeth faith may go
in.
3 Thou wilt keep him a in perfect
peace whose 'mind is stayed, because he
trusteth in thee.
4 Trust ye in Jehovah for ever; for
in Jehovah, even Jehovah, is an ‘ever¬
lasting rock.
5 For he hath brought down them
that dwell on high, the lofty city: he
layeth it low even to the ground; he
bringeth it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down; even
the foot of the poor, and the steps of the
needy.
7 The way of the just is “upright¬
ness; thou that art upright doth “direct
the path of the just.
8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Jehovah, have we waited for thee;
to thy name, even to thy memorial
name, is the desire of our soul.
9 With my soul have I desired thee
in the night; yea, with my spirit within
me will I see thee earnestly: for when
thy judgments are in the earth, the in¬
habitants of the world learn righteous¬
ness.
10 Let favor be showed to the
wicked, yet will he not learn righteous¬
ness; in the land of uprightness will he
deal wrongfully, and will not behold
the majesty of Jehovah.
11 Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up,
yet they see not: but they shall see T thy
1 Or, a steadfast mind thou heepest in perfect
■peace, because it &*c.
a Heb. peace, Peace
*Or, imagination
*Or, a roch of ages
“Or, a right way; the path of the just thou
dtrectest aright.
•Or, level
, 1 O r > tiud be put to shame, in their envy at
the people
zeal for the people, and be put to
shame; yea "fire shall devour thine ad¬
versaries.
12 Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace
for us; for thou hast also wrought all
our works for us.
13 0 Jehovah our God, other lords
besides thee have had dominion over us;
but by thee only will we make mention
of thy name.
14 9 They are dead, they shall not
live; they are l0 deceased, they shall not
rise; therefore hast thou visited and de¬
stroyed them, and made all remembrance
of them to perish.
15 Thou hast increased the nation, O
Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation;
thou art glorified; "thou hast enlarged
all the borders of the land.
16 Jehovah, in trouble have they
“visited thee: they poured out a “prayer
when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child, that
draweth near the time of her delivery,
is in pain and crieth out in her pangs;
so we have been “before thee, O Jeho¬
vah.
1 8 We have been with child, we have
been in pain, we have as it were brought
forth wind; we have not wrought any
deliverance in the earth; “neither have
the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Thy dead shall live; my dead
bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye
that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is
as the dew of' 10 herbs, and the earth shall
cast forth 1T the dead.
®0r, the fire of thine adversaries shall de¬
vour them
®0r, the dead live not. the deceased rise not
10 Or, shades
11 0r, thou hast removed it far unto all the
ends of the earth
ls 0r, loohed for
18 Heb. whisper
14 0r, at thy -presence
16 0r, neither have inhabitants of the world
been born
1B 0r, light
]T 0r, the shades
>rs. 1-19. The Worship and Testimony of Restored Israel.
Ver. 1. ' In that day ”,—Contemporaneous and homogeneous with
r? that day” of Chap. 25.9-12. It is the day of deliverance just men-
>ned.
79
ISAIAH
The " land of Judah " is plainly employed to form an antithesis to
Moab of the preceding chapter.
The "city" mentioned is Jerusalem, and by "he" Jehovah is meant.
According to view one the prophet relates a hymn which he hears
coming from, the holy mountain and out of the holy city, the leading
thought of which corresponds to II Pet. 3.13, it being the redeemed who
sing the song. According to view two the singers are the Jews after their
return from exile. Knobel contends that they are the Jews left by the
Babylonians in the land of Judah; but this is entirely out of keeping with
the context.
Ver. 2. The speakers are the same as in the preceding verse.
“The cry is a heavenly one", says Delitzsch, “and those who open
the gates are angels." Alexander thinks of the returning exiles calling to
the keepers of the gates of Jerusalem.
Ver. 3. This, says Alexander, is a general truth deduced from the
experience of those who are supposed to be the speakers. To be resigned
to God, to lean on Him, brings composure and peace.
Ver. 4. The same speakers addressing an exhortation to all who
hear them to continue in the frame of mind just mentioned.
Ver. 5. "the lofty city" ,— (See explanation under Chaps. 24.10-12
and 25.2.)
Ver. 6. The ruins of the conquered city to be trodden under foot
by those who had before been trodden in the dust by the feet of the worldly
power, the oppressor.
Ver. 8. "waited for thee" ,—i. e., to see Thee come forth as a judge
for the vindication of thy people and the destruction of their enemies
(Al. Ma. Na. Del.) Delitzsch, followed by Nagelsbach, says, “The Church
of the last days tells how she, looking back into the past, waited longingly
for the manifestation of Jehovah’s righteousness which has now taken
1 f p °
place.
Ver. 9. The faithful Jews here speak individually, says Fausscl.
Others (Na. Del.) think the prophet is here speaking for himself, especially
attributing to himself in the night of his sorrow and trouble the desire that
God would thus manifest Himself. The latter thought is without doubt
the correct on£.
Ver. 11. "thy hand is lifted up ",—i. e., to punish the foes of God's
people.
"but they shall see", —Those who will not see shall be made to sec;
“a general truth," says Delitzsch, “which had then received its most splen¬
did confirmation through the fall of the world city."
Ver. 12. “An expression of strong hope and confidence", says Alex¬
ander, “founded on what has already been experienced."
It is quite generally agreed that by "our works" are meant the works
done for us by God Himself.
Ver. 13. Nagelsbach’s unique and strange imagination gives us the
view that beginning with this verse and continuing through verse 18 the
80
ISAIAH
speakers are the dwellers in Sheol and that the prophet brings into view
the resurrection of the dead. In verse 14 the dead are speaking according
to the prevailing opinion; in verse 16 we find, says he, that the longing
for life and the hope of regaining it are not extinguished even in the realm
of the dead, while verse 17 supposes the possibility of deliverance from
Sheol, the hope of which is still alive in its occupants, and verse 18 shows
that all efforts of their own to bring themselves to a new life are ineffectual
like the bringing forth of wind on the part of a travailing woman. Then
in verse 19 the prophet speaks, as the interpreter of Jehovah, words of con¬
solation to the shades in Sheol, and in the spirit of prophecy utters the
triumphant call to awake, which will one day be pronounced by a mightier
voice that it may be fulfilled. There is nothing to commend Nagelsbach’s
view; this earth and not Sheol is the theater of what is described in verses
15 to 18, and it is either the Church Triumphant speaking on this re¬
deemed earth, or the remnant of Israel after their return, according to which
ever view is taken of the entire prophecy.
"other lords besides thee ’,—The somewhat current explanation of
these lords is that they refer to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, and to
this we are inclined although Alexander gives strong reasons for referring
them to the idols which the Jews served before the exile. Fausset includes
both in his explanation.
Ver. 14. Most expositors, following Clericus, refer this verse to
the Babylonians. Hitzig and Umbreit refer it to the forefathers of Israel
who on account of their idolatry had perished. But this brings in a new
subject not previously introduced. Alexander of course refers it to the
idols, the lords of verse 13, with some allusion, however, to the idolatrous
oppressors of Israel. Delitzsch refers it naturally to the oppressors of
Israel who, like the king of Babylon, have fallen into the realm of the
shades, from which they cannot now be brought back. The idea is that
we are not to think of a self resusitation, and not that they are dead forever
as if there were no resurrection of the dead, because Isaiah certainly knew
that there was to be such a thing, as verse 19 shows. Hosea, an earlier
prophet than Isaiah, also announced that death and Sheol should be de¬
prived of their prey. (Hos. 13.14.) (See also Isa. 25.8.)
Ver. 15. When Israel has cause to praise God in this way it will
again have become a numerous people and so larger territory will be needed.
The verse is a grateful acknowledgment of what God had done for his
suffering people.
Ver. 16. “visited thee’’, —i. e., in the sense of supplication. The
prayer, as in verses 8 and 9, seems to return to the night of sorrow which
preceded their deliverance.
Ver. 18. By referring this verse to the resurrection we have the
strange spectacle of the shades in Hades fruitlessly striving to resusitate
themselves and to get back into the world with a view to blessing it with
deliverance from evil and oppression. "Generous shades!" exclaims Dun¬
lop Moore.
Ver. 19. To the ineffectual efforts of the people to save themselves
is now opposed their actual deliverance by Jehovah Himself. They will
rise because they are God's dead.
81
ISAIAH
There is here of course a resurrection of some king predicted. To
what does it refer?
(1) Not to an actual or possible event, but a passionate wish that
the depopulated land might be replenished with inhabitants, the
resurrection in this case referring to the Jews already dead and a
wish that they might be made alive. But this gives a construc¬
tion to the verb which is neither natural nor obvious, and be¬
sides it would be a most unnatural conclusion of this address
to Jehovah.
(2) A spiritual resurrection or resusitation of the people of Israel,
the reference being to the restoration of exiled Israel under the
figure of a resurrection, i. e., raised from the dust of degradation.
(Al. Reu. and doubtless most expositors.)
(3) The literal resurrection at the time of the end. Delitzsch says
it is the language of the Church in the last days after it has
turned to God. Through long-continued sufferings and chas¬
tisement it has melted away to a small remnant, and many of
those who could really be numbered among its members were
now lying in their graves. It is, however, only the righteous
“my dead bodies " who shall arise, and it is the first resurrection
of Rev. 20.4 which is here predicted.
Alexander thinks this is plainly out of place here, and that be¬
sides they needed to be comforted with the promise of an earlier
resurrection just as Martha did who was not satisfied with the
promise of the resurrection at the last day.
Scofield says, “The restoration and re-establishment of Israel as a
nation is also spoken of as a resurrection (Ezek. 37.1-11), and many hold
that no more than this is meant here. But since the first resurrection is
unto participation in the kingdom (Rev. 20.4-6) it seems the better view
that both meanings be found here." With this agree others (F. Ho.).
The decision must depend upon the general view one takes of the
entire prophecy under discussion, but the view of the last quoted authori¬
ties harmonizes with either.
20 Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about
thee: hide thyself for a little moment,
until the indignation be overpast.
21 For. behold Jehovah cometh forth
out of his place to punish the inhabi¬
tants of the earth for their iniquity:
the earth also shall disclose her blood,
and shall no more cover her slain.
Vers. 20-21. The Punishment of the God-Opposed Powers of
the World.
Vcr. 20. The ingenious Nagelsbach says we are here transported
into the time after the resurrection. He says the time during which they
are to hide is during the “little season" while Satan is loosed just before
the second resurrection. But surely the blessed dead could not be described,
as they are here, as shades in misery who must hide after they have come
forth in the first resurrection, even though this theory of the resurrection
be a Scriptural one. The words of this verse cannot be addressed to those
mentioned in the preceding verse, but are addressed to individuals in exis¬
tence prior to that time.
82
ISAIAH
Delitzsch says that no mention is made of the judgment which is to
come upon the persecutors and oppressors of the Church until after the
Church has been made up by the addition through the first resurrection of
its members who had died, although this judgment in order actually pre¬
cedes this resurrection and uniting of God's people. The "little moment",
he says, is the period of judgment on the ungodly which is shortened for
the elects' sake.
Alexander, on the other hand, says, "The people of God are here
addressed as such, and warned to hide themselves until God's indignation
against them is past. The relief from God’s displeasure, which had just
been promised, must be preceded by the experience of the displeasure itself,
for the time of His indignation is not yet past."
Fausset says, "When God is about to take vengeance on the ungodly,
the saints shall be shut in by Him in a place of safety, as Noah and his
family were in the days of the flood; the saints are calmly and confidently
to await the issue."
It must not be overlooked that the words of this verse may be ad¬
dressed to those concerned in the preceding verse, in the sense that they
are to remain in the grave until the time of this judgment be past. Such an
interpretation is admissible both on the ground of a literal and of a figura¬
tive resurrection.
The "hiding" referred to is, according to Delitzsch and Nagelsbach as
well, the shutting of the Church off from the world in the solitude of
prayer.
Ver. 21. Some (Ros. Hit.) take the last clause as a prediction that
the dead should actually come forth from their graves, but it is much more
natural to understand the whole verse as a simple variation of the one
before it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
An amplification of the last verse of the preceding chapter.
1 In that day Jehovah with his hard
and great and strong sword will punish
leviathan the ’swift serpent, and levia¬
than the ‘crooked serpent; and he will
slay the monster that is in the sea.
2 In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing
ye 'unto it. 3 I Jehovah am its keeper;
I will water it every moment; lest any
hurt it. I will keep it night and day.
4 Wrath is not in me: would that the
briers and thorns were against me in
battle! I would march upon them, I
would burn them together. 5 Or else
let him take hold of my strength, that
he may make peace with me; yea, let
him make peace with me. 6 1 2 * 4 In days
to come shall Jacob take root; Israel
‘Or, gliding Or, fleeing
a Or, winding
•Or, of
*Or, In the generations that come
shall blossom and bud; and they shall
fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Hath he smitten them as he smote
those that smote him? or are they slain
according to the slaughter “of them that
were slain by them? 8 “In measure,
’when thou sendest them away, thou
dost contend with them; he hath re-
mpved them with his rough blast in
the day of the east wind. 9 Therefore
by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be
“forgiven, and this is all the fruit *of
taking away his sin: that he maketh all
the stones of the altar as chalkstones that
are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim
and the sun-images shall rise no more.
10 For the fortified city is solitary, a
•Or, of their slain
•The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncer¬
tain,
T Or, by sending them away
•Or, exfiated
B Or, to take away
83
ISAIAH
habitation deserted and forsaken, like
the wilderness: there shall the calf feed,
and there shall he lie down, and con¬
sume the branches thereof. 1 1 When
the boughs thereof are withered, they
shall be broken off; the women shall
come, and set them on fire; for it is a
people of no understanding; therefore
he that made them will not have com¬
passion upon them, and he that formed
them will show them no favor.
Vers. 1-11. The Judgment UPON JEHOVAH'S ENEMIES CONTINUED.
Ver. 1. Jehovah's destruction of the enemies of His people is here
foretold as the slaughter of three great sea monsters.
“In that day ”,—Indicating that what is introduced belongs to the
same stage of the world's history as that which has gone before.
It has been much disputed as to whether the destruction here pre-
dieted is that of a single nation or of several, but the description seems to
call for three. These monsters are most likely Egypt, Assyria and Baby¬
lonia, but it is impossible to wholly identify them. (Na. Del.)
Gill thinks the three are the Devil, the Beast and the False Prophet;
while Fausset thinks the reference is to the great enemy of the Church, the
Devil, the three expressions referring to the same individual.
Ver. 2. This verse does not belong to the song itself, containing as
it does only the theme and the summons to celebrate it in song.
“a vineyard of wine ”.—The reference is to Israel, the Church, the
people of God, elevated to high joy and honor while the worldly powers
are annihilated. (F. Ma. Ho. Al. Na. Del.)
Ver. 4. There are two explanations of this verse:
(a) I am no longer angry with my people. Oh, that their enemies,
as thorns and briers, would array themselves against me that I might rush
upon them and consume them. (F. AI. Del.)
(b) It is not because I am angry that I thus afflict my people, but
because she is a vineyard overrun by thorns and briers on account of which
I must pass through her and consume her, i. e., burn the thorns and briers
out of her.
The first explanation is rightly preferred by most writers.
Ver. 5. They must either be overcome by the storm of war just
mentioned, or lay hold on the protection of God.
Ver. 6. The prophet says here in figurative language what Paul
declares in Rom. 11.12, that when Israel is restored to favor as a nation
she will become “the riches of the Gentiles".
Ver. 7. The thought runs thus: Did the Lord smite His people
Israel as severely as He did the enemies whom He employed to chastise
Israel, or is Israel slain according to the slaughter wherewith the enemy is
slain? No, indeed!
Ver. 8. This verse expresses more distinctly the negation implied in
the preceding verse. Israel was moderately punished, and for a time only,
by being removed out of her place as if by a transient storm or blast of
wind.
84
ISAIAH
Ver. 9. “Therefore ”,—A conclusion drawn from the preceding “in
measure”, God’s punishment is remedial.
Ver. 10. “the fortified city is solitary ”,—Delitzsch and Fausset
think the reference is to Jerusalem, while Nagelsbach says it cannot possibly
be Jerusalem but is the great city of the world, the center of the 'worldly
power to which the prophet has so repeatedly referred. There are good
arguments on either side. Either, however, would be appropriate in this
connection as the interpretation of the chapter would not be affected one
way or the other.
In this verse and the following this city is depicted as a desolate,
forsaken place, overgrown with bushes whose tender branches the calves
eat off and whose withered twigs the women gather for fuel.
12 And it shall come to pass in that
day. that Jehovah will ’beat off his
fruit from the flood of the River unto
the brook of Egypt; and ye shall be
’gathered *one by one, O ye children of
Israel.
‘Or, bead out his grain
*Or, gleaned
8 Or, one to another
Vers. 12-13. ISRAEL Restored.
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great trumpet shall be
blown; and they shall come that were
‘ready to perish in the land of Assyria,
and they that were outcasts in the land
of Egypt; and they shall worship Jeho¬
vah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
K)r, lost
Ver. 12. To the downfall of the “fortified city” he now adds its
most important consequences—the restoration of the Jews. The “river”
is doubtless the Euphrates and the “brook of Egypt” is the Nile or perhaps
the Wady Elarish, and the simple meaning of the whole expression is from
Assyria to Egypt.
Gesenius says, “The kingdom will be repeopled to the fullest extent
that had been promised, and that too, as rapidly and as numerous as if
human beings were dropping like olives from the beaten trees." But the
word rendered “beat off" is the one employed usually to indicate the beat¬
ing out of those husked fruits which are too tender and valuable to be
threshed, and the meaning therefore can hardly be that of a sudden stream¬
ing in of a great multitude, but refers the rather to the careful and com¬
plete ingathering of that which otherwise might be lost or left behind.
Delitzsch contends that this verse does not relate to the gathering in
of the Jews, but. with a somewhat far-fetched and strained exegesis, he says
that what is meant is the resurrection from the grave of the dead Jews as
set forth in the previous chapter, to which thought the prophet here returns.
But this conclusion, we feel, is unwarranted. The boundaries mentioned
are not meant as defining the limits of the promised land to which Israel
was to be gathered, but the rather the regions whence they should return.
Ver. 13. This verse points to the same event as the one just before it,
the gathering of Israel, only under a different figure.
Delitzsch, in keeping with his explanation of the previous verse, says,
"To the risen Church there comes the still living scattered ones, gathered
by divine signal, not alone from Assyria and Egypt, though especially
named, but from all the lands of exile."
Alexander says, “The application of this verse to a future restoration
85
ISAIAH
of the Jews can neither be established nor disproved. If such a restora¬
tion can be otherwise shown to be a subject of prophecy, this passage may
be naturally understood as at least comprehending it. But in itself con¬
sidered it appears to contain nothing which may not naturally be applied
to events now long past or which has not found in those events an adequate
fulfillment.
Section Five. The Ungodly Alliance with Assyria and Egypt .
Chapters 28 to 33.
These chapters relate.altogether to events of the prophet's own day.
Many writers see in the vivid descriptions of judgment pronounced and
blessing promised a secondary reference to Jehovah’s final judgment on the
antichristian worldly powers and the kingdom blessings of Israel, as for
instance Scofield, who says, “In these chapters the same blended meanings
of near and far fulfillments are found—the near and far horizons blend—
the near view being that of the Egyptian alliance and the Assyrian inva¬
sion while the far view is that of the end-time day of the Lord and the
kingdom blessing to follow."
Of course all such prophecies may in a sense be said to be typical, and
this secondary reference ought not perhaps to be denied to those who con¬
tend for its place in the prophet’s words, yet we feel the need of caution
lest this mode of exegesis be pressed too far. The expressions of the
prophet, which may to some seem extravagant for merely local adaptation,
may after all be thus understood in view of the highly picturesque and
figurative language so peculiar to him throughout all his writings. The
following are the passages under discussion:
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
\4 Wherefore hear the word of Jeho¬
vah, ye scoffers, that rule this people
that is in Jerusalem: 15 Because ye have
said, We have made a covenant with
death, and with Sheol are we at agree¬
ment; when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come
unto us; for we have made lies our
refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves: 16 therefore thus saith the
Lord Jehovah, Behold, I May in Zion
for a foundation a stone, a tried stone,
a precious corner-stone of sure founda¬
tion: he that believeth shall not be in
haste. 17 And I will make justice the
line, and righteousness the plummet;
and the hail shall sweep away the refuge
of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding-place. 18 And your covenant
with death shall be annulled and your
fOr, ha vs laid
agreement with Sheol shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, then ye shall be trodden down
by it. 19 As often as it passeth
through, it shall take you; for morning
by morning shall it pass through, by
day and by night: and it shall be nought
but terror to understand the ^message.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a
man can stretch himself on it; and the
covering narrower than that he can
wrap himself in it. 21 For Jehovah
will rise up as in mount Perazim, he
will be wroth as in the valley of Gib-
eon; that he may do his work, his
strange work, and bring to pass his act,
his strange act. 22 Now therefore be
ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made
strong; for *a decree of destruction have
1 heard from the Lord, Jehovah of
hosts, upon the whole 4 earth.
*Or. report
*H«b. dattructlon, and that dtertad
*Or, load
86
ISAIAH
Vers. 14-22. THE FATE OF EPHRAIM A WARNING TO JUDAH.
Says Alexander, “To their confident assurance of safety God opposes,
first, the only sure foundation which He Himself had laid, and then the
utter destruction which was coming on their own chosen objects of reli¬
ance." By the art of falsehood, cunning policy and fine diplomacy they
hope to be saved from death and hades, with which they imagine they have
already formed an alliance. Assyria they compare to an overflowing
scourge. By the "lies" and "falsehood" they doubtless mean a secret
league with Egypt while they were professing loyalty to Assyria in the
days of their dependence on Assyria into which Ahaz had brought them.
The "tried stone " of verse 16 is of course the Messiah. Says Faus-
set, "whether Isaiah understood the fullness or not, the Holy Spirit plainly
contemplated its fulfillment in Christ alone."
Says Scofield, "There is in these verses a near reference to the Egyptian
alliance ('we have made a covenant’, etc.), while the reference to the stone
in verse 16 carries the meaning forward to the end time, and the covenant
of unbelieving Israel with the Beast (Dan. 9.27)."
Blackstone says, "The Antichrist will be received even by the Jews,
who having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will make
a treaty with him, called by the Prophet Isaiah, ‘a covenant with death
and an agreement with heir."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
3 And I will encamp against thee
round about, and will lay siege against
thee with posted troops, and I will
raise siege works against thee. 4 And
thou 9halt be brought down, and shalt
speak out of the ground, and thy speech
shall be low out of the dust; and thy
voice shall be as of one that hath a
familiar spirit, out of the ground, and
thy speech shall ’whisper out of the
dust.
5 But the multitude of thy a foes
shall be like small dust, and the multi¬
tude of the terrible ones as chaff that
pasaeth away; yea, it shall be in an in¬
stant suddenly. 6 "She shall be visited
'Or, thirf
*Heb. strangtrs
*Or, Thtr* shall bo a visitation from }tho~
vah dr*r.
of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and
with earthquake, and great noise, with
whirlwind and tempest, and the flame
of a devouring fire. 7 And the multi¬
tude of all the nations that fight against
Ariel, even all that fight against her and
her stronghold, and that distress her,
shall be as a dream, a vision of the
night. 8 And it shall be as when a
hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he
eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is
empty: or as when a thirsty man dream-
eth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he
awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and
his soul hath appetite: so shall the mul¬
titude of all the nations be, that fight
against mount Zion.
Vers. 3-8. The Invasion and Overthrow of the Assyrian Host.
The city here mentioned is Jerusalem.
Scofield says, "The near view is that of Sennacherib’s invasion and
the destruction of the Assyrian host by the angel of the Lord; the far view
is that of the final gathering of the Gentile hosts against Jerusalem at the
end of the great tribulation, when a still greater deliverance will be
wrought."
Fausset says, "This prediction was not fully realized under Sennach¬
erib, but was under the Roman siege. It probably contemplates ultimately,
87
ISAIAH
besides the affliction and deliverance in Sennacherib's time, the destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem by Rome, the dispersion of the Jews, their restora¬
tion, the destruction of the enemies that besiege the Holy City (Zech. 14.2)
and the final glory of Israel, as seen in verses 17 to 24. The ulterior ful¬
fillment of verse 6 in the case of the enemies of the Jews in the last days
may be more literal."
17 Is it not yet a very little while,
and Lebanon shall be turned into a
fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall
be esteemed a*s a forest? 18 And in that
day shall the deaf hear the words of ’the
book, and the eyes of the blind shall
see out of obscurity and out of dark¬
ness. 19 The meek also shall increase
their joy in Jehovah, and the poor
among men shall rejoice in the Holy One
of Israel. 20 For the terrible one is
brought to nought, and the scoffer ceas-
eth, and all they that watch for iniquity
are cut off; 21 that “'make a man an
offender 3 in his cause, and lay a snare
’Or, a book (or, writing)
r Or, make men to offend by their words
3 Or, for a word
for him that reproveth in the gate, and
turn aside the just with a thing of
nought.
22 Therefore thus saith Jehovah,
who redeemed Abraham, concerning the
house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be
ashamed, neither shall his face now wax
pale. 2 3 4 But when he seeth his chil¬
dren, the work of my hands, in the
midst of him, they shall sanctify my
name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy
One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe
of the God of Israel. 24 They also that
err in spirit “shall come to understand¬
ing, and they that murmur shall receive
instruction.
4 Or, But when his children see fo*c.
5 Heb. shall know understanding
Vers. 17-24. The Blessing of Israel After Deliverance.
The moral change in the Jewish nation is to be as great as if the
wooded Lebanon were to become a fruitful field and vice versa.
Nagelsbach thinks the meaning is that the lofty Lebanon (Assyria)
shall be brought low and the lowly field (Israel) shall be exalted. But
the comparison seems to be between the cultivated and the wild rather than
between the high and the low.
Delitzsch says there is a promise in both clauses and that the last
clause means that what they now call a fruitful field shall then be so much
more so that what they now esteem a fruitful field will seem as if it were a
forest in comparison with itself in the days to come.
Fausset however takes the last clause as a threat, and says the meaning
of the whole passage is that in the Messianic days men’s hearts which were
once a moral desert (the wooded Lebanon) are to be reclaimed so as to
bear fruits of righteousness, whereas, vice versa, the ungodly who seem
prosperous both in the moral and literal sense (the fruitful field) shall be
exhibited in their real barrenness.
Scofield takes the words of this section as a type of the kingdom
blessings which are to follow the days of tribulation.
Nagelsbach says, ‘‘The prospect of blessedness which the prophet here
presents belongs also to the days of the Messiah, as we clearly perceive from
verses 18 and 19; for in fact he here beholds along with the near view the
time of the end, and in holding out the prospect of this reformation within
a brief period he does so in the exercise of that prophetic manner of con¬
templation which reckons the times not according to a human but a divine
measure."
88
ISAIAH
Fausset says the reference contemplates the outpouring of the Spirit
in the latter days, first on the Jews, which shall be followed by their
national restoration, and then on the Gentiles.
CHAPTER THIRTY
23 And he will give the rain for thy
seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the
ground; and bread of the increase of the
ground, and it shall be fat and plente¬
ous. In that day shall thy cattle feed
in large pastures: 24 the oxen likewise
and the young asses that till the ground
shall eat savory provender, which hath
been winnowed with the shovel and
with the fork. 25 And there shall be
upon every lofty mountain, and upon
every high hill, brooks and streams of
waters, in the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall. 26 Moreover the
light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun. and the light of the sun
shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven
days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth
up the hurt of his people, and healeth
the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of Jehovah
cometh from far. burning with his an¬
ger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips
are full of indignation, and his tongue
is as a devouring fire; 28 and his breath
is as an overflowing stream, that reach-
eth even unto the neck, to sift the na¬
tions with the sieve of destruction: and
a bridle that causeth to err shalt be in
the jaws of the peoples. 29 Ye shall
have a song as in the night ] when a holy
feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as
when one goeth with a pipe to come
unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the
Rock of Israel. 30 And Jehovah will
cause his glorious voice to be heard,
and will show the lightning down of
his arm, with the indignation of his
anger, and the flame of a devouring fire,
with 'a blast, and tempest, and hail¬
stones. 31 For through the voice of
Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed;
with his rod will he smite him. 3 2 And
every 3 stroke of the appointed staff,
which Jehovah shall lay upon him,
shall be with the sound of tabrets and
harps; and in battles with the brandish¬
ing of his arm will he fight with them.
3 3 For a Topheth is prepared of old;
yea, for the king it is made ready; he
hath made it deep and large; the pile
thereof is fire and much wood; the.
breath of Jehovah, like a stream of
brimstone, doth kindle it.
^r, when a feast is hallowed
J Or, crashing
3 Heb. passing
^Or, staff of doom (Heb. foundation)
Vers. 23-33. The Blessings Which Are To Follow Israel's
Devastation.
Here is a promise of increased prosperity after a dreadful period of
war and devastation through which the Jews are to pass.
What Scofield calls “a foreshadowing of kingdom blessing’' Rosen-
muller designates as “a description of the Golden Age.”
Says Nagelsbach, “The glorious time of the end lies beyond a dread¬
ful period which first must be passed through. This latter he has de¬
scribed so often as to be able to suppose that these brief allusions would be
quite well understood by his readers.”
Ver. 25. Even the otherwise barren hills shall then flow with water,
a common figure for a great change for the better.
Hitzig interprets the others” as living towers, i. e., the Assyrian
chiefs. But as the slaughter pertains here chiefly to the Jews it would
seem that the towers ought also to find their reference in Jewish associa¬
tion. Knobel refers them to the fortifications of the Jews which would no
longer be needed in the happy times described, while Delitzsch thinks they
refer to Jewish self-confidence and pride. Perhaps Nagelsbach is right when
89
ISAIAH
he says, "I find here simply an allusion to the great judgments which
must fall on people and city before the day of redemption. The old theo¬
cratic Jerusalem with its towers and its temples is reduced to ruins while
streams of blood have at the same time flown."
Gill refers the “slaughter" to that of the antichristian kings described
in Rev. 19.17-21, and among other references Vitringa finds one to the
seventh apocalyptic period.
Ver. 26. The shining of the moon and the sun must of course here
be taken in a figurative sense, an image from the heavenly bodies to express
either, as Fausset says, "the increase of spiritual light and felicity", or as
Alexander says, "some great revolution in the state of society".
"This verse", says Nagelsbach, "transports us into a time which lies
beyond the present state of things, though not into the time of the new
heavens and the new earth, for the present sun and the present moon still
exist." He quotes Delitzsch as being certainly right in saying, "It is not
the new heaven of which the prophet here speaks, but that glorification of
nature promised both in the Old and the New Testament prophecy for
the final period of the world's history". (Compare, says Nagelsbach, Rev.
20.1-4.)
Ver. 27. "The imagery of verses 27 and 28 is cumulative. Judah
is making an alliance with Egypt when she might be in league with Him
whose judgment upon the world-powers will be like a terrible thunder-
tempest (verse 27), turning streams into torrents neck-deep (verse 28,
f. c.) ; who will sift the nations in their own sieve of vanity (or ‘destruc
tion’), and put His bridle into the jaws of the peoples." (Sco.)
“the name of Jehovah ",—Many authorities take this expression as
meaning Jehovah Himself (F. Del.) and this is no doubt its immediate
reference. Others would have us believe it refers to Him who is the Agent
in every revelation- of the Godhead, and accordingly He to whom the Father
hath committed all judgment, the Messiah, and this may rightly be said
to be its secondary reference, and Nagelsbach says, "He cometh to judgment
from afar because He comes from heaven".
Ver. 28. “to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction", —Some
say this is a sieve which lets only the light, useless grain fall through it to
destruction; but it is a sieve of ruin, of emptiness, of falsehood, pointing
out the issue of the process, and \ye believe those right who see here, as Gill
does, that, "they were to be sifted not with a good and profitable sieve,
which retains the corn and shakes out the chaff, but with a sieve that lets
all through and so reduces to nothingness all who find themselves in it."
(F. C. AI. Lo. Bar.)
“a bridle that causeth to err", —Most interpreters see here the specific
sense of leading astray, causing to go in the wrong direction, the bridle put
in their jaws compelling them to go from the way they had intended.
Ver. 29. As in the Passover-night they celebrated with songs their
deliverance from Egypt so shall they celebrate their deliverance from the
bondage here under view, and the festal processions in which, accompanied
with song and music, they used to go up to the temple is but a type of the
joy that shall in that day be granted to Israel.
90
ISAIAH
Ver. 31. Those who contend for the blending of the near and far
fulfillments of this prophecy see of course in Assyria not only the then
existing Gentile power but a type of the world-power at the end of this
age, and even Alexander says, “The express mention of Assyria in this
verse, although it does not prove it to have been from the beginning the
specific subject of the prophecy, does show that it was a conspicuous object
in Isaiah's view, as an example both of danger and of deliverance, and
that at this point he concentrates his prophetic vision on this object as a
signal illustration of the general truths which he has been announcing."
Ver. 32. “shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps”, i. e., on
the part of the people of Jerusalem who have only to look on and rejoice
in the coming deliverance.
“with the brandishing of his arm”, —The literal is “battles of swing¬
ing", or “battles of shaking", and the idea seems to be that it is not to be
with darts or other weapons, but that with the incessant swinging of His
arm He will smite Assyria.
Ver. 33. Tophet means a place of burning. The Tophet in the
valley of Hinnon was a place of sacrifice dedicated to Moloch, and here the
idea is only that of a Tophet-Iike place. The words contain a figurative
representation of Assyria's temporal doom and a premonition of his doom
hereafter.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Vers. 1 to 3 contain another warning against trusting in the chariots
of Egypt through an alliance with that ungodly power.
Vers. 4 to 5 express Jehovah’s determination and power to save those
who put their trust in Him.
Vers. 6 to 9 invite the children of Israel to return to Jehovah, as they
will be constrained to do with shame when they behold the judgment
which He is about to bring upon their oppressors.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
1 Behold, a king shall reign in right¬
eousness, and princes shall rule in jus¬
tice. 2 And a man shall be as a hiding-
place from the wind, and a covert from
the tempest, as streams of water in a
dry place, as the shade of a great rock
in a weary land. 3 And the eyes of
them that see shall not be 'dim, and the
ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 And the heart of the “rash shall under¬
stand knowledge, and the tongue of the
stammerers shall be ready to speak plain¬
ly. 5 The fool shall be no more called
’Or, cloud
*Heb. hasty
noble, nor the 'churl said to be bounti¬
ful. 6 For the fool will speak folly,
and his heart will work iniquity, to
practice profaneness, and to utter error
against Jehovah, to make empty the
soul of the hungry, and to cause the
drink of the thirsty to fail. 7 And the
instruments of the churl are evil; he de-
viseth wicked devices to destroy the
*meek with lying words, even when the
needy speaketh right. 8 But the noble
deviseth noble things; and “in noble
things shall he continue.
•Or, crafty
“Or, foot
“Or, by liberal things shall he stand
91
ISAIAH
Vers. 1-8. The Promise of the King and His Righteous Govern¬
ment.
Scofield remarks here again that in this chapter and the three follow¬
ing the same blended meanings of near and far fulfillments are found, the
near view being still of Sennacherib’s invasion and the far view the day
of the Lord and the kingdom blessing to follow.
These eight verses continue the promises of the foregoing text.
Ver. 1. “a king ”,—The reference may be to Hezekiah’s reign as at
least a beginning and foretaste of what is here promised, but, as Fausset
says, “If Hezekiah be meant at all it can only be as a type of Messiah, the
King, to whom alone the language is fully applicable”, for, as Nagelsbach
says, “Only in Messianic times can the kind of a rule prophesied be true.’
“princes shall rule in justice ”,—To whom these refer in the far view
of the prophecy is not easy to determine unless, as Fausset says, “to all in
authority under Christ in the coming kingdom on earth, e. g., the Apostles,
etc., but this Alexander calls very forced and neither justified nor required
by the context.
Ver. 2. "a man shall be”, etc .,—Most late interpreters give to
“man” the sense of a distributive pronoun meaning death, i. e., each of the
princes just mentioned. The word is, however, seldom so used except
with a plural verb, and the meaning here is rather that there shall be a man
on the throne who instead of oppressing will protect the helpless.
Ver. 3. The reference is to spiritual transformations and the verse
applies to the people generally.
Ver. 4. It would seem best to understand these bodily defects as
denoting others of an intellectual and spiritual nature.
Vers. 9-13. In these verses the prophet reverts to the prospect of
coming disaster and addresses especially the proud women who by their
luxurious habits contribute so largely to existing evils and for whom the
coming invasion would be especially disastrous.
14 For the palace shall be forsaken;
the populous city shall be deserted; the
hill and the watch-tower shall be for
dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pas¬
ture of flocks; 15 until the Spirit be
poured upon us from on high, and the
wilderness become a fruitful field, and
the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest.
16 Then justice shall dwell in the
wilderness; and righteousness shall abide
in the fruitful field. 1 7 And the work
of righteousness shall be peace; and the
effect of righteousness, quietness and
confidence for ever. . 18 And my people
shall abide in a peaceful habitation, and
in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-
places. 19 But it shall hail in the
downfall of the forest; and the city
shall be utterly laid low. 20 Blessed are
ye that sow beside all waters, that send
forth the feet of the ox and the ass.
Vers. 14-20. The Future Glory of the Nation.
Ver. 13. This verse tells how long the desolation is to last, i. e..
until, etc. Nagelsbach calls the passage between this verse and the pre¬
ceding one, “a bold bridge from the then present into the remote future”.
He says, “The prophet sets the glorious Messianic last time over against
the pernicious then present time, yet in a way that overlaps the long inter¬
vening centuries, and sees the future directly behind the present. How
far-reaching and comprehensive is the gaze of the prophet here!”
92
ISAIAH
This can only partially apply to the spiritual revival in Hezekiah's
time; its full accomplishment belongs to the Christian dispensation, first
at Pentecost (Joel 2.28; Acts 2.17), perfectly in coming times (Zech.
12.10; Ezek. 36.26; 39.29), when the Spirit shall be poured on Israel,
and through her on the Gentiles (Micah 5.7).
The desolation is to last, as Alexander says, “until by a special divine
influence a total revolution shall take place in the character, and as a neces¬
sary consequence in the condition of the people. To attempt to restrict it
to the return from exile, or to the day of Pentecost, or to some great
effusion of the Spirit upon the Jews still future, perverts the passage by
making that its whole meaning, which at most is but a part.’'
For explanation of the latter part of the verse see Chap. 29.17.
Ver. 16. This verse does not apparently mean that both in the culti¬
vation of the wilderness and the desolation of the field the righteousness
of God shall be displayed; it means rather that what is now a wilderness
and what is now a fruitful field shall both alike be the abode of justice
and righteousness.
Ver. 19. “the downfall of the forest”, —The “ forest” we know to
be an emblem of Assyria (Chap. 10.34), the Assyrian host dense as the
trees of a forest.
“and the city shall be utterly laid low” ,—Some think this an instance
of “prophetic recurrence from remoter promises to nearer threats", as if he
had said, “Before these things come to pass the city must first be laid low",
the subject therefore being the same as that in verse 13, i. e., Jerusalem.
(Al. Kn. Del. Hit. Cas.)
Others take it, and as we think more properly, as a direct continua¬
tion according to which it must be taken as the downfall of some hostile
city. Fausset thinks of Ninevah, as do probably the most. In a sense it
is of course the world-city, as others take it. (Na. Dre. Ros.) Nagels-
bach asks, “Why of a sudden this dark trait in the picture of light? Is
not the abasement of Jerusalem sufficiently declared in verses 13 and 14?
Why a repetition here? If the forest that falls under the hail-storm means
the world-power generally, then the city must mean the world-city."
Ver. 20. Delitzsch says here, “They sow wherever they please, by
all waters that fertilize the soil, on fruitful land requiring little toil to
cultivate it, and because everything is rich in abundance they can let oxen
and asses roam at large." (Na. He.)
Some think the last clause refers to the custom of sending forth the
oxen and asses to tread the ground before sowing (F. Lo.), while Ewald,
with Alexander, explains the passage exclusively of moral cultivation, im¬
plying that none can expect to reap good without diligently sowing it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
1 Woe to thee that destroyest, and
thou wast not destroyed; and dealest
treacherously, and they dealt not treach¬
erously with theel When thou hast
ceased to destroy, thou shalt be de¬
stroyed: and when thou hast made an
end of dealing treacherously, they shall
deal treacherously with thee. 2 O Je¬
hovah, be gracious unto us; we have
waited for thee; be thou 'our arm every
J Heb. their
93
ISAIAH
morning, our salvation also in the time
of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult
the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of
thyself the nations are scattered. 4 And
your spoil shall be gathered as the cater¬
pillar gathereth; as locusts leap shall
men leap upon it. 5 Jehovah is exalt¬
ed, for he dwelleth on high: he hath
filled Zion with justice and righteous¬
ness. 6 2 And there shall be stability in
thy times, abundance of salvation, wis¬
dom. and knowledge: the fear of Jeho¬
vah is s thy treasure.
7 Behold, their valiant ones cry
without; the ambassadors of peace weep
bitterly. 8 The highways lie waste,
the wayfaring man ceaseth: *the enemy
hath broken the covenant, he hath de¬
spised the cities, he regardeth not man.
9 The land mourneth and languisheth:
Lebanon is confounded and withereth
away: Sharon is like °a desert; and
Bashan and Carmel shake off their
leaves. 10 Now will I arise saith Jeho¬
vah; now will I lift up myself; now
will I be exalted. 1 1 Ye shall conceive
chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble; your
breath is a fire that shall devour you.
12 And the peoples shall be as the burn¬
ings of lime, as thorns cut down, that
are burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I
have done: and. ye that are near,
acknowledge my might. 14 The sin¬
ners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath
seized the godless ones: Who among us
can dwell with the devouring fire? who
among us can dwell with everlasting
burnings? 15 He that walketh right-
a Or, And abundance of salvation, wisdom,
and knowledge shall be the stability of thy
times.
■Heb. his
4 Heb. he
“Or, the Arahah
eously, and speaketh uprightly: he that
despiseth the gain of 'oppressions, that
shaketh his hands from taking a bribe,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of
blood, and shutteth his eyes from look¬
ing upon evil: 16 he shall dwell on
high: his place of defence shall be the
munitions of rocks; his bread shall be
given him; his waters shall be sure.
17 Thine eyes shall see the king in
his beauty; they shall behold ’a land
that reacheth afar. 18 Thy heart shall
muse on the terror: Where is 8 he that
counted, where is he that weighed the
tribute? where is he that counted the
towers? 19 Thou shalt not see the
fierce people, a people of a deep speech
that thou canst not comprehend, of a
'strange tongue that thou canst not
understand. 20 Look upon Zion, the
city of our ’'solemnities; thine eyes shall
see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent
that shall not be removed, the stakes
whereof shall never be plucked up,
neither shall any of the cords thereof be
broken. 21 But there Jehovah will be
with us in majesty, “a place of broad
rivers and streams, wherein shall go no
galley with oars, neither shall gallant
ship pass thereby. 22 For Jehovah is
our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Je¬
hovah is our king: he will save us. 2 3
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not
strengthen the foot of their mast, they
could not spread the sail: then was the
prey of a great spoil divided; the lame
took the prey. 24 And the inhabitant
shall not say, I am sick: the people that
dwell therein shall be forgiven their
iniquity.
"Or, fraud
T Or, a land that is very far off Heb. a land
of far distances .
“Or, the scribe
“Or, st ammeri ng
10 Or, set feasts
”Or, but in the -place .... streams there
shall go, &*c.
Vers. 1-24. THE WOE UPON ASSYRIA AND THE SALVATION OF JERU¬
SALEM.
Ver. 1. The enemy addressed is rightly taken by the majority
to be Assyria. The words are of course applicable to any oppressive and
deceitful enemy. Some think that Nebuchadnezzar is meant either as an
individual or as a representative of the Assyrian power. Vitringa thinks
of Antiochus Epiphanes, Jerome of Satan, while Gill thinks by this enemy
the Antichrist is meant.
The enemy is described as acting without provocation and as having
never yet suffered reverses.
Ver. 3. “At the noise of the tumult ",—"The approach of Jeho¬
vah", says Fausset, "is likened to an advancing thunder storm, which is
94
ISAIAH
His voice causing 4 the peoples , the Assyrians, to flee.” He lets them hear a
voice which, as it were, has no actual existence. The verse is addressed
to Jehovah.
44 the lifting up of thyself”, —i. e., when, in order to strike, one rouses
himself from a state of seeming inaction.
Ver. 4. The address is to the Assyrians. The prophet sees the
Israelites plundering their camp and gathering the spoil as the caterpillars
(the wingless locust) gather, that is, greedily and thoroughly, not leaving
a field or a tree until they have stripped it.
"as locusts leap” ,—i. e. eagerly, voraciously, with a view to satisfy¬
ing the appetite.
Ver. 6. The object of the address is most probably the people of
Judah (K. Al. Na. Del.), and not Hezekiah, for which latter there is np
reason, the same being true of the explanation which refers the object to
the Messiah. The Hebrew for ,4 thy” is 44 his”, but it either refers to the
same object, i. e., Judah, by a change of person common in Hebrew poetry,
and is therefore properly rendered 44 thy” in our text; or if 44 his” be retained
it must be made to mean Jehovah's treasure which He bestows.
Ver. 7. From the vision of future glory the prophet returns to the
disastrous present.
These 44 valiant ones” and the 44 ambassadors” of the next clause, ap¬
parently one and the same, are not those sent by Hezekiah to Isaiah, but
they are the messengers sent to Sennacherib to treat for peace, the messengers
sent by Hezekiah to the Assyrian king (II Kings 18.14-18). Their terms
were accepted and the peace money handed over, after which the Assyrian
commander would not retire but demanded the surrender of Jerusalem;
hence the bitter weeping.
44 cry without”, —i. e., probably without the enemy's camp.
Ver. 8. The scene presented is that of the condition of Judah dur¬
ing the Assyrian invasion. Gilf thinks it is that of the Protestant cities
seized by Antichrist and a stop put to their religious course and conver¬
sation.
Ver. 9. The most fertile and flourishing parts of the country are
here described as desolate, the language being figurative of course, which
may be inferred from the fact that none of the places mentioned are in
Judah.
Ver. 11. 44 chaff . . . stubble ”,—The common Scriptural figure for
failure.
44 bretath”, —Various renderings are “puffings” (Na.) “anger”
(Gro.), "pride” (Cle.), "panting” (Del.) ; their rage against Jerusalem is
the fire that shall consume them.
Ver. 12. " the peoples”, —i. e., primarily the races mingled in the
Assyrian army, but in general all nations that defy God.
Gill refers this verse to the future destruction of antichristian Rome.
(Rev. 17.16; 18.8.)
Ver. 13. " ye that are afar off” and t4 ye that are near” refer doubt¬
less to all people without exception. (F. Al. Bar.) Hendewerk says
95
ISAIAH
they are the ten tribes and the two tribes; Junius and Nagelsbach say they
are the Gentiles and the Jews, while Delitzsch says it refers to a farness
and nearness to God of those who are in Jerusalem.
Ver. 14. ‘‘The sinners in Zion”, —i. e., the impious Jews.
What follows is the language of the wicked Jews in Jerusalem and is
expressive of their terror, alarm and desperation. The ‘‘devouring fire”
is therefore not the wrath of God as executed by the Assyrians (Gro. Pis. ),
but the wrath of God as executed on or against the Assyrians, and the
thought is, If this be a specimen of God's vindicatory justice, what can
we expect? Who of us can dwell with this devouring fire?
Henderson, not without some reason, thinks the reference is to eternal
punishment, and that the argument is from the less to the greater, namely,
if these are God’s temporal judgments what must His eternal wrath be;
who of us can dwell with such devouring fire?
Ver. 15. This is taken by many (F. Na. Del.) as an answer to the
question of the preceding verse. If this be proper, then that verse cannot
refer to future punishment because the righteous are not supposed to
endure that. It may be so taken if the " devouring fire” refers only to God s
judgments against the Assyrians, because the righteous man shall be secure
in the midst of such devouring fire of Jehovah.
We believe it is best, however, to separate this verse from the preced
ing context, making it the beginning, as it were, of a new paragraph, be¬
cause the sentence is plainly incomplete in this verse and finds its conclusion
in the next. (Al. He.)
Ver. 16. ‘‘dwell on high ”,—Not exalted position, but safety from
enemies. "Enclosed as within the impregnable walls of a rocky fortress
on inaccessible heights.” (Del.)
Ver. 17. ‘‘the king in his beauty ”,—Some refer this to Hezekiah
exclusively. (Al. Del. Ges.) Delitzsch says, “The king of Judah hither
to deeply abased by tyrannous oppression and unfortunate wars, is then
glorified by the victory of his God, and the nation, answering to the
description of verses 15 and 16, shall behold him in his God-given beauty.”
Calvin, Nagelsbach and others think of King Hezekiah as a type of
the Christ, while Fausset and Abarbenel think only of the Messiah. Faus
set says, “Not as now, Hezekiah in sackcloth oppressed by the enemy, but
King Messiah in His beauty.”
‘‘a land that reacheth afar”, —i. e., a land of far stretching extent
(Del.), a wide-extended land (Na.), the land in its remotest extent (F. >.
Luther thinks of the land as actually extended by conquered territory, while
Hitzig says that they can see from Jerusalem far and wide because their
view is no longer obstructed by fortresses, entrenchments and the presence
of the enemy. The Hebrew is ‘‘a land of far distances '.
Ver. 18. They reflect on the terror that is now past. The scribe,
the collector of tribute, the weigher who tested the weight of the gold and
silver paid in as tribute money, and the counter of the towers who drew
up the plan of the city that was to be attacked—these are all vanished.
Ver. 19. The Assyrians, a people of fierce, insolent bearing, of
96
ISAIAH
obscure, unintelligible (“deep”) speech and obscure (" stammering " or
“strange”) tongue so perplexing to the Israelites, will have disappeared
from the land.
Ver. 20. The beauty of the imagery lies in ascribing permanency
to a tent which, from its very nature, is movable and undependable.
Ver. 21. Babylon, Ninevah and other great cities were usually
defended by great rivers and river canals. Jerusalem had none such, but
Jehovah, figuratively speaking, will be to her such river defenses, and
neither oar-ship nor sail-ship (ships of war) shall be able to pass these
mighty waters. Others contend that the collocation of words forbids this
interpretation, and they read “But a glorious One dwells there for us,
Jehovah” (Del.), or “But there shall Jehovah be mighty for us” (Al.) ,—
then in consequence of His dwelling there Jerusalem shall be like a place
of rivers, etc.
Ver. 23. A sudden apostrophe to the enemy considered as a ship.
“they could not strengthen the foot of their mast ”,—i. e., they could
not hold firm the support, the socket of the mast.
By many these words are held as addressed to Jerusalem (Na. Or. Del.
Dre. Che.). But the reasons adduced by Nagelsbach, who says we
stand again in this verse in the period before the overthrow of the Assyrians,
are not at all convincing, and it is better to take the address as being made
to Assyria, as do the majority of writers. (F. Al. Ew. Bi. Reu. Luz. Bar.)
When Assyria is spoiled the lame will join in the pillage, by which
statement the eagerness of the gathering in of the spoil is pictured.
Ver. 24. “The inhabitants shall not say, / am sick”, —Either there
shall be no sickness or those who are sick shall recover.
“shall be forgiven their iniquity” ,—Some interpret the sickness as a
spiritual malady and so take this clause as meaning the same as the one
that went before it. Others take it as explaining that bodily sickness is
caused by sin (F. Na. Al.). The words really mean that all sickness shall
cease with sin. “The words”, says Alexander, “are strictly applicable
only to a state of things still future, either upon earth or in heaven.”
Section Six. The Eschatological Judgment of the Nations and the
Redemption of Israel.
Chapters 34 and 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and
hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear,
and the fullness thereof; the world, and
all things that come forth from it. 2
For Jehovah hath indignation against
all the nations, and wrath against
all their host: he hath Utterly destroyed
them, he hath delivered them to the
slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be
l Heb. devoted
cast out, and the stench of their dead
bodies shall come up; and the mountains
shall be melted with their blood. 4 And
all the host of heaven shall *be dissolved,
and the heavens shall be rolled together
as a scroll; and all their host shall fade
away, as the leaf fadeth from off the
vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-
tree.
3 Or, moulder away
97
ISAIAH
Vers. 1-4. The JUDGMENT ON THE WHOLE WORLD.
Some have applied this section as well as what follows to the desola¬
tion of Edom (Gro. Schi.), but there is little doubt but that it belongs
to the judgment of the end-time because it takes place with the contempo¬
raneous destruction of the present heaven and earth. (F. Na. Eu. Cy. Del.)
Scofield says it is the battle of Armageddon.
Ver. 1. The summons goes forth to the whole of nature, imper¬
sonal as well as personal, because the former will have to share in this judg¬
ment. They are not invited to witness but to hear about this judgment.
Ver. 3. " the mountains shall be melted with their blood", —i. e.,
as they are sometimes washed away by the rain.
Ver. 4. " And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved ",— The verb
rendered " dissolve" is commonly applied to pining away through disease.
In Psa. 38.6 it means to “run as a sore” and from this Gesenius, adopting
the poetical notion of likening the stars to wax candles, gets the idea of
melting. Maurer therefore quite aptly takes the expression as a statement
that the heavenly bodies will pine away into sickly, dying lights. (V. Al.)
"rolled together as a scroll", —Pfeiffer has well said that as Jehovah
is elsewhere said to have stretched out the heavens as a curtain, so their
destruction or any total change in their appearance would be described as
a rolling up of the expanse.
5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in
heaven: behold, it shall come down up¬
on Edom, and upon the people of my
'curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of
Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made
fat with fatness, with the blood of
lambs and goats, with the fat of the kid¬
neys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacri¬
fice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in
the land of Edom. 7 And the wild-
oxen shall come down with them, and
the bullocks with the bulls: and their
land shall be drunken with blood, and
their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For Jehovah hath a day of ven¬
geance. a year of recompense for the
cause of Zion. 9 And the streams a of
Edom shall be turned into pitch, and
the dust thereof into brimstone, and the
land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night nor
day; the smoke thereof shall go up for
, Heb. devoting, or, ban
a Heb. thereof
ever; from generation to generation it
shall lie waste; none shall pass through
it for ever and ever. 11 But the pelican
and the porcupine shall possess it; and
the B owl and the raven shall dwell there¬
in: and he will stretch over it the line
of confusion, and the 4 plummet of emp¬
tiness. 1 2 They shall call the nobles
thereof to the kingdom, but none shall
be there; and all its princes shall be
nothing. 1 3 And thorns shall come up
in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the
fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habi¬
tation of jackals, a court of ostriches
14 And the wild beasts of the desert
shall meet with the "wolves, and the
wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea,
T the night-monster shall settle there, and
shall find her a place of rest. 1 5 There
shall the dart-snake make her nest, and
lay, and hatch, and gather under her
shade; yea, there shall the kites be gath¬
ered, every one with her mate.
•Or, bittern
4 Heb. stones
°Or, As for her nobles, none shall be there to
proclaim the kingdom
8 Heb. howling creatures
T Heb. Lilith
Vers. 5-15. The Judgment on Edom as Representing All Hostile
World-power.
Ver. 5. “my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven", —God's sword
is here described as drunk with wrath in heaven before it is drunk with
98
ISAIAH
wrath on earth. (Del. Ges.) The saying is one doubtless expressing
divine fore-ordination: In the sight of God the sword, although not yet
actually used, was already dripping with blood.
"people of my curse", —This expression is not to be extended to
other nations (Ju.), but is a repetition pointing again to Edom as the
people doomed to the curse of God,
Ver. 6. The Edomites are regarded as a sacrifice and here compared
to sheep, goats and rams. Bozra is the chief city of Edom.
"made fat with fatness', —i. e., smeared with the fat and the blood
as the animal substance offered in sacrifice.
Ver. 7. Some think the " wild oxen" or " wild buffalo" refers to
malignant enemies, but it means rather that the wild as well as the tame
animals will be included in the slaughter.
"shall come down with them", —i. e., either to the slaughter, or
"come down", meaning to fall or sink under the fatal stroke.
Ver. 9. Here is signified the completest destruction, as if her streams
were turned to pitch, and her dust to sulphur.
Nagelsbach says, “When the streams are flowing with pitch and the
dust is sulphur the whole land will become a place of fearful conflagration."
Gill applies the last clause to the future burning of Rome as in Rev.
17.16 and 18.8.
Ver. 10. “The inextinguishable fire and the eternally ascending
smoke", says Delitzsch, “prove that the final end is referred to (Rev.
19.3)."
“It is", says Nagelsbach, “the flame of the last judgment and the
burning continues forever and ever." (F.)
Alexander, on the other hand, remarks that while these images are
copied in Rev. 14.10,11, it does not follow that the copy was intended
to determine the sense of the original.
Ver. 11. As right building demands the measuring line and the
plummet, so God will move deliberately and by rule in His work of
destruction.
Ver. 12. In as much as " nobles" is a nominative absolute, it is far
better here to read with the margin, "As for her nobles, none shall be there
to proclaim the kingdom . The nobles and princes have come to nothing,"
Vers. 14-15. The general sense of these two verses is that the
human population shall be succeeded by wild and lonely animals, implying
total and continued desolation, and there is no need to concern ourselves
with the detailed discussion in the various commentaries as to the particu¬
lar species of animal referred to in each case.
16 Seek ye out of the book of Jeho¬
vah, and read: no one of these shall be
missing, none shall want her mate: for
my mouth, it hath commanded, and his
Spirit, it hath gathered them. 1 7 And
he hath cast the lot for them, and his
hand hath divided it unto them by line:
they shall possess it for ever; from gen¬
eration to generation shall they dwell
therein.
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ISAIAH
Vers. 16,17. A SUMMONS TO COMPARE THE PROPHECY WITH ITS
Fulfillment.
Ver. 16. The persons addressed are the future witnesses of the
events here predicted. The prophet seems to take his stand at a point of
time after the event.
"the book of Jehovah ",—We prefer, with Kimchi and Alting, to
refer this to the prophecy just delivered, although, as Alexander says, it
may be referred to prophecy in general or to the entire Scriptures without
material change of sense. Other explanations are His decrees (Ab.), His
record of events (For.), that part of Genesis relating to unclean animals
(Jar.), the law in general (C.) the book of Revelation (Gill).
The pronouns in this verse and the next refer to the animals afore¬
mentioned.
"my mouth . . . his Spirit ",—The sudden change of persons has led
to various explanations, but on the whole the explanation of Delitzsch
is to be preferred. He renders, “my mouth and its breath", thus making
God the speaker in both instances. Indeed it is not even necessary to
change the form of the pronoun, for such changes of person are frequent
in Hebrew poetry.
Ver. 17. As Canaan was divided by lot and measuring line to
Israel, so Edom is allotted to these doleful creatures.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
1 The wilderness and the dry land
shall be glad; and the desert shall re¬
joice, and blossom as the ‘rose. 2 It
shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
even with joy and singing; the glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it, the ex¬
cellency of Carmel and Sharon: they
shall see the glory of Jehovah, the ex¬
cellency of our God.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and
confirm the 'feeble knees. 4 Say to them
that are of a “fearful heart, Be strong,
fear not: 1 * 3 4 * behold, your God will come
with vengeance, with the recompense of
God; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. 6 Then shall the lame man
leap as a hart, and the tongue of the
dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness
J Or, Autumn crocus
*Or, tottering’
8 Heb. hasty
4 Or, behold, your God! Vengeance will come,
even the recompense of God
shall waters break out, and streams in
the desert. 7 And the flowing sand
shall become a pool, and the thirsty
ground springs of water; in the habita¬
tion of jackals, where they lay, shall be
°grass with reeds and rushes. 8 And a
highway shall be there, and a way, and
it shall be called The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it; but
it shall be for 7 the redeemed : the way¬
faring men, yea fools, shall not err
therein. 9 No lion shall be there, nor
shall any ravenous beast go up thereon:
they shall not be found there: but the
redeemed shall walk there-, 10 and the
ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and
come with singing unto Zion: and ever¬
lasting joy shall be upon their heads:
they shall obtain gladness and joy, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
s Or, mirage
“Or, a court for reeds, &*c.
7 Heb. them
Vers. 1-10. Israel's Redemption and Regathering.
Ver. 1. This and the following verse, as someone has well said,
prepare the theater in general, as it were, for the return of Israel, which
return is to be through the desert, a desert, however, which shall conform
100
ISAIAH
to the blessed people who wander through it,—it will change its nature;
hitherto a place of cursing, the abode of demons, it will become a place of
blessing, a paradise,
"blossom as the rose ”,—Perhaps crocus, or narcissus, or lily are
nearer the original meaning, but the "rose" is true to poetry if not to
botany, and is perhaps best retained as more familiar and as containing a
more striking image of beauty.
Ver. 2. Lebanon, Sharon and Carmel are here united as types of the
most luxuriant and glorious vegetation.
"they shall see ”,—Some take this as referring to the house of Israel.
(Al. Cle. Sep. Tar. Bred.) Others refer it, and rightly, to the immediate
antecedents (V. Na. Del.), declaring that the discourse only comes to the
Judeans in the next verse. Alexander says that if the immediate ante¬
cedents had been meant there would have been no need for the use of the
pronoun, and it must have been introduced for the purpose of directing
the attention to some other than the nominatives nearest. This argument
is, however, by no means conclusive.
Ver. 3. Are they exhorted to do this for others or for themselves?
Both thoughts are best included and there is no reason for the exclusion of
either. The reference is of course to self-encouragement and the encour¬
agement of others.
Ver. 4. ‘‘fearful heart”, —i. e., hasty of heart, the impatient, those
who cannot wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises (Al. Cle.), although
it has been variously explained, “inconsiderate” (Ju.), “precipitate”
(Coc.), “inconstant” (Vat.), “faint-hearted” (Lo.), “palpitating”
(Ros.), “ready to flee” (Ges.).
The rendering of the margin, “ Behold , your God! vengeance will
come,—even the recompense of God”, is preferable to that of our text,
as most later writers agree. (V. Al. Ju. Na. Coc.)
Alexander says, “While Barnes denies that the phrase ‘your God’
refers at all to the Messiah, Calovius alleges that the name of Jesus is
expressly mentioned, being included in the verb. The words are really
a promise to God’s people of deliverance, and include, as the most im¬
portant part of their contents, the unspeakable gift of Christ and His
salvation.”
Vers. 5,6. The words are to be understood more in a spiritual
sense than in a corporeal, although it is not impossible that the latter, in a
conditional sense, may be included. Perhaps, however, as Alexander says,
the simple meaning of the passage is that there shall be such a wonderful
change wrought in the condition of mankind, as if the blind were to
receive their sight, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk,
and deserts to be fertilized and blossom like the rose.
Ver. 7. “in the habitation ”,—This is to be connected neither with
what precedes, “springs of water in the habitation ”, etc. (Al.), nor with
what follows, “in the habitation, etc., there shall be a highway ” (Ew.),
both of which constructions allow no promise to be found in the last
clause of this verse. Our text is certainly right in seeing here a promise
that what was once the haunt of jackals is to become fit for a resting place,
101
ISAIAH
a place where grass and reed and cane can grow because of the moisture,
or a “court for reeds and rushes”, as in the margin.
By the “glowing sand” is meant the "mirage" which shall become an
actual pool or lake of water.
Ver. 8. “a highway shall there be”, —Not a faint track in the desert,
but a solid artificial highway.
“and a way”, —This is merely a heniadys, a highway and a way for
a highway.
“the unclean shall not pass over it”, —This means that the people of
Jehovah shall be holy. It is not an "effusion of national hatred" (Kn.),
nor "a trace of later Judaism" (Hit.) excluding the heathen generally.
“but it shall be for the redeemed {them)”, —It means merely for
them for whose sake it was made, the redeemed of course. Hence it is
needless to specify, "the blind whose eyes are opened" (Ju.), "Israel'’
(Kim.), "the exiles" (Hit.), "those redeemed from idolatry" (He.),
"those redeemed by suffering" (Kn.).
“the wayfaring man”, —The traveler.
“yea, fools”, —This is explanatory and emphatic. Only moral
impurity, but not ignorance nor weakness shall exclude men from this
highway. Whoever goes upon it must be sanctified and such an one will
be under Jehovah's protecting care.
Ver. 9. Nothing can go on this highway that may in any wise
be occasion for alarm or fear. The way is so high that no beast can
leap up.
Ver. 10. “upon their heads”, —Joy is manifest in the face and
countenance.
Says Alexander, "With respect to the subject of this chapter there
has been such diversity of opinion. It has been explained with equal
confidence as a description of Judah under Hezekiah (Gro.), of the return
from exile (Cle.), of the state of Judah after that event (Ros.), of that
state and the times of the New Testament together (Mi.), of the calling
of the Gentiles (Coc.), of the Christian dispensation (C. Lut.), of the
state of the Church after the fall of Antichrist (V.), of the state of Pales
tine at some future period (Mic.), and of a future state of blessedness
(Gill). These arbitrary hypotheses refute each other. The best descrip¬
tion of the chapter is that given by Augusti in the title to his version of ii.
where he represents it as the description of a happy condition of the Church
after a period of suffering. This is no doubt its true import, and when
thus explained it may be considered as including various particulars, none
of which may be regarded as its specific or exclusive subject. Gesenius
says this prophecy was of course never fulfilled; but so far is this from
being true, that it has rather been fulfilled again and again. Without any
change of its essential meaning it may be applied to the restoration of the
Jews from Babylon, to the vocation of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian
dispensation, to the course of every individual believer, and to the blessed¬
ness of heaven."
Scofield, on the other hand and representing the opposite school of
interpretation, says the chapter points to the kingdom blessing and the
regathering of Israel.
102
ISAIAH
Section Seven . The Conclusion of the Assyrian and the Preparation for
the Babylonian Period .
Chapters 36 to 39.
CHAPTERS THIRTY-SIX AND THIRTY-SEVEN
The Attempt of Assyria to Compel the Surrender of Jerusalem.
Chap. 37.31,32. The king of Assyria had taken all the fenced cities
of Judah, but into the city of Jerusalem Jehovah had said to the king of
Assyria that he should not come (verse 33), and the remnant here refers
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and those who had fled there for safety.
CHAPTERS THIRTY-EIGHT AND THIRTY-NINE
Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery and the Embassy from Baby¬
lon Occasioned By It.
THE SECOND PRINCIPAL DIVISION OF THE BOOK
The twenty-seven chapters which compose this second division of
the writings of Isaiah subdivide into three parts containing each nine chap¬
ters; Chaps. 40 to 48—49 to 57—58 to 66. Each of these parts in turn
contain three addresses.
The general theme of this division is the Redemption of Israel be¬
ginning with the return from Babylonian exile and ending with the cre¬
ation of a new heaven and a new earth.
CHAPTER FORTY
This chapter, after a general introduction (verses 1-11) to the entire
twenty-seven chapters as well as to the subsequent parts of this chapter
itself, contains a presentation of the absolute power and wisdom of God
as the objective basis of the redemption in view.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
This chapter both introduces the redeemer from the east (Cyrus)
and sets forth the redeemed 4 ‘servant of Jehovah", the people Israel, whom
God promises to make strong unto victory, upon which is based an argu¬
ment for the sole divinity of Jehovah and the nothingness of idols.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
This chapter introduces the Messiah who as the personal representa¬
tive of a new covenant will mediate for all nations, and then occupies itself
with a call to all nations, and especially Israel, to rejoice in promised
deliverance.
103
ISAIAH
Scofield, Fausset and others see in this chapter, as well as in others, a
twofold account of the coming of Christ, His first in mercy to the penitent
and His second in judgment on His enemies. Such verses as 1 3 and 14
they think set forth the judicial aspect of the Gospel which shall be con¬
summated victoriously only at His second coming. But even though the
general truth advanced by these writers be admitted, great caution should
be used in drawing it out of passages of doubtful reference. Insofar as
the name Jehovah in verse 13, and in Chap. 40.10, as referred to by
Scofield, may be referred to Christ there is reasonable ground for the posi¬
tion taken by these authorities. It is doubtless true, as Delitzsch says of
verses 13 and 14, that "The defeat which Jehovah here inflicts on heathen¬
dom is the final and decisive one. The deliverance of Israel, now nearing
its accomplishment, is deliverance both from the punishment of exile and
all the misery of sin. The post-exilian and the New Testament period
flow into one."
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
In this chapter the redemption itself is described as one that shall
come to pass in spite of all difficulties, even though the heathen must be
sacrificed for the sake of it. It is to be all-comprehending, bringing Israel
back from out of all lands of the earth. This restoration, which finds its
beginning in the return from Babylon, is described in such language as
contains without doubt a reference to the more distant Messianic salva¬
tion, set forth under the usual figures of transformed nature.
Under verse 18 Fausset remarks that "plainly the still future restora¬
tion of Israel is the event ultimately meant."
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
In this chapter a new pledge of deliverance is given and a new exhor¬
tation to trust in Jehovah is set forth, the wisdom and glory of the latter
being set forth in comparison with the wretchedness of impotent idols and
their worshippers.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
In this chapter is set forth the deeds of Cyrus as the instrument in
the initial ushering in of the salvation promised to Israel, assurance of this
being set forth in the fact that, beside the northern world-power directly
ruled by Cyrus, even the southern world-power, Egypt, with the lands of
its dominion, shall join itself to the people of Jehovah, as a result of which
Israel shall at last and definitely abjure its idols.
The "coming over unto Israel" (verse 14) of Egypt, Ethiopia and
Sabea Fausset says "mainly and fully describes the gathering in of the
Gentiles unto Israel, especially at Israel's future restoration."
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
In this chapter Israel is exhorted to remember the power of Jehovah
and the impotence of idols that are carried by beasts of burden into
captivity.
104
ISAIAH
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
This chapter is occupied wholly with the downfall of Babylon. It
exposes the reasons for this judgment which came upon them and sets forth
the uselessness of all the means employed to rescue the nation thus sentenced
by the decree of Jehovah.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
In this chapter the prophet points Israel to the fulfillment of the old
prophecies in order to move them to faith in the new, after which the
chief content of the new prophecy is repeated, promising again the restora¬
tion of Jehovah's people and reminding them of the promise.
The evident reference to redemption from the bondage of Egypt
found in verse 21 leads Fausset to say that the blending of this deliverance
with that from Babylon shows that the language cannot be wholly and
exclusively referred to either one of them, but that it points mainly to the
mystical deliverance of man under the Messiah and ultimately and literally
to the final restoration of the now dispersed Israelites.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
In this chapter is found the self-attestation of the Holy One, Israel’s
Redeemer, the Messiah, as to His person and work, the latter half of the
chapter showing how desolated Israel is to be built anew from the Gentiles.
6 Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing
that thou shouldst be my servant to raise
up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
preserved of Israel: I will also give thee
for a light to the Gentiles, ’that thou
mayest be my salvation unto the end of
the earth.
’Or, that my salvation may be
Ver. 6. The Restoration of Israel and the Calling of the
Gentiles.
Nagelsbach says, "The expression, 'raise up the tribes of Jacob' says
more than one at first sight supposes. For it implies that the nation shall
be restored according to its original distribution into twelve tribes."
"the preserved of Israel ",—This, says Fausset, refers to "the elect
remnant according to grace preserved for mercy."
8 Thus saith Jehovah, In an accept¬
able time have I answered thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee;
and I will preserve thee, and give thee
for a covenant of the people, to ’raise
up the land, to make them inherit the
desolate heritages; 9 saying to them that
are bound, Go forth; to them that are
in darkness, Show yourselves. They
shall feed in the ways, and on all bare
’Or, establish the earth
heights shall be their pasture. 10 They
shall not hunger nor thirst; neither
shall the 'heat nor sun smite them: for
he that hath mercy on them will lead
them, even by springs of water will he
guide them. 1 1 And I will make all
my mountains a way, and my highways
shall be exalted. 12 Lo, these shall
come from far; and, lo, these from the
north and from the west; and these
from (he land of Sinim.
a Or, mirage
105
ISAIAH
Vers. 8-12. The Preservation and Restoration of Israel.
Ver. 8. In this verse and the first half of the next the address is
made by Jehovah to His Chosen One, the Messiah.
“in an acceptable time ... in a day of salvation”, —Christ Himself by
taking Isa. 61.1 as a text explains the time of His appearing as 11 the accept¬
able year”, which must be identical with the " acceptable time* of our text.
But, says Nagelsbach, “The prophetic gaze, however, ‘in the year of sal¬
vation' sees comprehensively all those points of time that belong, by way
of preparation and development, to this central point of the redemption of
Israel. It begins with the deliverance from Babylonian captivity and only
ends in the completion of salvation in the world beyond."
"to raise up the land ",—The country which has fallen into decay
rises again and thus the promised land is restored to Israel.
“inherit the desolate heritages*', —“The waste heritages", says
Delitzsch, “become anew the property of their former owners."
Says Fausset, “Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall
become a garden of the Lord; and literally, Judea, lying waste during
Babylonian captivity, shall be possessed again by the Israelites, and Jesus,
the anti-type of and bearing the same name as Joshua, will divide the land
among its true heirs.
Ver. 9. In the second half of this verse the prophecy depicts the
return of the redeemed. Says Rosenmuller, “Israel on its way back to the
Holy Land shall not have to turn aside to devious paths in search of neces¬
saries, but shall find them in all places wherever their route lies."
Vers. 10,11. Jehovah will abundantly supply all the wants of
Israel on their way to the Holy Land, as He will those of spiritual Israel
on their way to heaven, making all the mountains a way for the returning
ones, and raising the paths of the desert, as it were, into artificially formed
highways.
By Sinim in verse 12 is no doubt meant China.
17 Thy children make haste; thy de¬
stroyers and they that made thee waste
shall go forth from thee. 18 Lift up
thine eyes round about, and behold: all
these gather themselves together, and
come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah,
thou shalt surely clothe thee with them
all as with an ornament, and gird thy¬
self with them, like a bride. 19 For,
as for thy waste and thy desolate places,
and thy land that hath been destroyed,
surely now shalt thou be too strait for
the inhabitants, and they that swallowed
thee up shall be far away. 20 The chil¬
dren of thy bereavement shall yet say in
thine ears. The place is too strait for
me; give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thy heart.
Who hath begotten me these, seeing I
have been bereaved of my children, and
am Solitary, an exile, and wandering to
’Or, borne
v Or, barren
and fro? and who hath brought up
these? Behold, I was left alone; these,
where were they?
22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Be¬
hold, I will lift up my hand to the na¬
tions, and set up my ensign to the peo¬
ples: and they shall bring thy sons in
their bosom, and thy daughters shall be
carried upon their shoulders. 23 And
kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and
their queens thy nursing mothers: they
shall bow down to thee with their faces
to the earth, and lick the dust of thy
feet; and thou shalt know that I am
Jehovah; and they that wait for me
shall not be put to shame.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the
mighty, or “the lawful captives be de¬
livered? 25 But thus saith Jehovah.
Even the captives of the mighty shall be
taken away, and the prey of the terrible
•Heb. the captives of the fust
106
ISAIAH
shall be delivered; for I will contend
with him that contendeth with thee,
and I will save thy children. 26 And
I will feed them that oppress thee with
their own flesh; and they shall be
drunken with their own blood, as with
sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that
I, Jehovah, am thy God.
Vers. 17-26. DESOLATE ISRAEL BUILT AFRESH FROM THE GENTILES.
Ver. 17. Zion's children come again to build her fallen walls and
those who made a desolate ruin of the holy city and land must depart from
her midst.
“Thy children make haste”, —The reference here, says Fausset, is to
“Zion's literal children, who come on in haste to build up again the ruins
and the waste places; to this the context refers especially, and only second¬
arily to her spiritual children by conversion to Christ."
Ver. 20. “ The children of thy bereavement” ,— Here again Fausset
says that the context shows that her literal children are literally meant.
Morgan thinks that by this expression the lost ten tribes are meant, as do
also many other writers. “Only secondarily", says Fausset, “is the acces¬
sion of spiritual Israel from the Gentiles meant."
Nagelsbach thinks these countless children are those converted to
Jehovah from the Gentiles and that the reference is not to the returning
Israelites. He contends that if they had been her own children or her
children’s children she would have recognized them as the children of her
own body, and that they are therefore spiritual children of Israel.
Delitzsch and most interpreters agree with Fausset in seeing in this the
secondary reference of the passage only.
Ver. 22. “Thy sons", says Fausset, “must be distinct from the Gen¬
tiles who carry them. The Gentiles shall aid in restoring Israel to her own
land (Chap. 60.4 and 66.20), and this verse cannot therefore refer pri¬
marily to securing converts from among the Gentiles, but must the rather
refer to the literal restoration of Israel."
Campbell Morgan, who contends for the literal restoration of Israel,
believes this fact set forth in the verses before us, and he says, “While I am
not able positively to deny that we, as a nation, are identical with the lost
ten tribes, I am by no means satisfied of it; but I have no quarrel with
those who hold that view. At all events God knows where they are; and
back to the old land for which He has declared His love, shall come the
scattered earthly people—not the two tribes, not Judah alone, but all the
Israel of God."
Ver. 23. Instead of the nations, as in the previous verse, we now
have their kings and queens who became her protectors and further her
growth, which thing became true down through the ages, attended some¬
times with good consequences and sometimes with evil.
Ver. 24. “ Shall the prey be taken from the mighty ",—Israel has
long been a prey to mighty Gentile nations, “whose oppression of her",
says Fausset, “shall reach its highest point under Antichrist."
“the lawful captives be delivered” ,—The rendering of our text seems
to refer to the Jews as justly consigned because of their sins as captives
to the foe. (F.) The word is literally “just" or “righteous."
Hendewerk thinks the reference is to the Jews carried off as captives
107
ISAIAH
by the righteous Chaldeans, but this cannot be said of the Chaldeans even
as accomplishing the judgment of Jehovah upon the wayward nation.
This thought might be gathered from the marginal reading, "the captives
of the just", but it certainly cannot be the thought of the passage. The
idea of "just" and "righteous" must be applied to the Israelites. Israel,
ready to return home, is said to be righteous however sinful may have been
those who were led away into captivity.
The best translation we believe is, "the captive righteous ones be
delivered" . The rendering of our text gives a very proper idea, as Fausset
says, but it is hardly in keeping with the original.
In a secondary sense Satan may be said to be the mighty one, the
conqueror of man, upon whom his own sin gives to Satan a lawful claim,
which claim is answered by Christ, by reason of which the guilty man goes
free.
In verses 25 and 26 is found the answer of Jehovah to the question
just propounded.
CHAPTER FIFTY
This chapter shows that the judgment upon Israel was provoked by
her own iniquity, but that she was not to be altogether and finally cast off
by God. In the first part is shown that their not receiving the Lord when
He came to His possession was the cause of their temporary rejection; then
in the second is set forth the suffering of the Messiah which He declares
Himself willing to undertake; while in the last part of the chapter is shown
the possibility of Israel’s acceptance once again.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
This chapter is taken up with the promised redemption of Israel,
the argument being that the God who has so blessed one individual (verse
2) as to make him a mighty nation, can also increase and bless the small
remnant of Israel, both that, as Fausset says, “left in the Babylonian cap¬
tivity and that left in the present and latter days, the residue. (Chap.
1 3.8,9.) “ In such verses as 11 and 14 many interpreters see the usual two¬
fold reference of a literal release from the then existing Babylon and anti-
typically from the mystical Babylon, the last enemy of Israel and the
Church, while of course still others, in keeping with their school of inter¬
pretation, spiritualize the meaning into the gathering of the Gentiles, the
heathen of the present dispensation, into the Church, the spiritual Israel.
As to verses 17 and 18, Fausset says these cannot apply to the Baby¬
lonish captivity, because in that they had some one “to guide her"; they
had Ezekiel and Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah, and they soon awoke out
of that sleep. The words apply, he says, to the Jews now, and will be
still more applicable to them in their coming oppression by the Antichrist.
But the premise of this writer’s statement hardly warrants his conclusion,
though his conclusion in itself may be a sound one. The thought of the
passage is that Jerusalem was utterly devoid of any help on the part of her
children; the suffering weighed so heavily on all the members of the exiled
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ISAIAH
people, that, as Delitzsch says, “no one felt the joy and strength needful
to rise up for her and to lay hold of her hand to guide her or to stay her
up/’ Even the prophet is constrained, humanly speaking, to confess,
“How shall I comfort thee?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
This chapter treats of the restoration of Jerusalem to glory. The
first states that Jehovah must do this for the sake of the honor of His
name, while the second part describes the accomplishment of the restoration.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
This chapter portrays the humiliation and suffering of the Man of
Sorrows, the prophecy regarding whose future no man believed. The
first part, with which the last three verses of the preceding chapter should
be connected, as presenting the theme of the prophecy, sets forth the lowli¬
ness of this Man as the Lamb that bears the sin of the people, while the
last part of the chapter treats of His exaltation to glory.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
In this chapter are set forth the fruit of the Messiah's sufferings in
the joyful salvation of Jehovah's people. In the first ten verses is por¬
trayed the wondrous enlargement of Zion by the incorporation of the
Gentile world, while in the remaining part the prophet describes the secur¬
ity and blessing of the restored nation.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
In this chapter the universal invitation to the Gentiles is given. The
first part of the chapter designates believing acceptance of the word as the
way of appropriating this new salvation, while the latter part speaks of
the obstacles and scruples that must be set aside that the rich blessing
offered may not be frustrated.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
This chapter devotes itself to describing the preparation needed on
the part of those who wish to partake of this new salvation. It consists
both of a series of ethical instructions and of consolatory words for the
eunuchs and the converts from the heathen to Israel and to Israel’s God.
Verses 6 and 7 says Campbell Morgan await complete and very literal ful¬
fillment in the age to come, the Millennium age.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
The prophet here returns to the time previous to the beginning of
redemption, that is, to the time previous to the end of the exile. In the
last verses of the preceding chapter he describes the mournful situation
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ISAIAH
obtaining among the leaders of Israel, the watchmen and the shepherds, as
well as among the people who lived during the exile, but in this chapter
beginning with verse 15 he concludes that the believing remnant will be
graciously cared for in spite of the conditions of the unpromising present
which his eyes were forced to behold.
In verse 1 3 Fausset sees another promise of the literal restoration of
Israel in coming days to the holy land.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
The prophet now shows them how by a sincere repentance they must
raise themselves out of the sphere of the flesh into that of the spirit, and
contrasts the false worship with the true, setting forth the promises con¬
nected with the latter.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
In this chapter the sins which hinder the accomplishment of redemp¬
tion are still more directly laid bare. The people make their penitential
confession by reason of which comes the consequent promise of the Messiah.
1 5 And Jehovah saw it, and it dis¬
pleased him that there was no justice.
1 6 And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was *no inter¬
cessor; therefore his own arm brought
salvation unto him; and his righteous¬
ness, it upheld him. 17 And he put on
righteousness as a ^breastplate, and 3 a
helmet of salvation upon his head; and
he put on garments of vengeance for
clothing, and was clad with zeal as a
mantle. 1 8 According to their Meeds,
accordingly he will repay, wrath to his
adversaries, recompense to his enemies;
to the “islands he will repay recompense.
’Or, none to interpose .
■Or, coat of mail
3 Or, salvation for a helmet
4 Heb. recompenses
5 Or, coast-lands
Vers. 15-21. The Promise of Jehovah’s Intervention and the
Redeemer Out of Zion.
Ver. 15. The prophet has now reached the point where he has to
describe the judgment at hand. Jehovah investigates the situation and
owns with displeasure that justice and equity has disappeared from the life
of His people.
Ver. 16. "And he saw that there was no man”, —i. e. t no one able
to restrain, to remedy this corrupt condition; no man, says Fausset, "to
atone by his righteousness for the unrighteousness of the people; no repre¬
sentative man able to retrieve the cause of fallen men."
19 So shall they fear the name of Jeho¬
vah from the west, and his glory from
the rising of the sun; “for he will come
as 7 a rushing stream, which the breath
of Jehovah driveth. 20 And a Redeem¬
er will come to Zion, and unto them
that turn from transgression in Jacob,
saith Jehovah. 21 And as for me, this
is my covenant with them, saith Jeho¬
vah: my Spirit that is upon thee, and
my words which I have put in thy
mouth, shall not depart out of thy
mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy
seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s
seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and
for ever.
8 Or, when the adversary shall come in like
a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a
standard against him
T Heb. a stream pent in
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ISAIAH
“no intercessor”, —i. e., no one to intervene, as intercessor, between
God and the people, this expression corresponding largely in parallel to
the one just before it, the former having a meaning analogous to and pre¬
paratory for the latter.
Understanding clearly then what was needed Jehovah proceeds to
actual intervention, “his arm”, a symbol of His omnipotence, affording
Him help, and “His righteousness” and the righteousness of His cause
sustaining Him in His purpose.
Ver. 17. The armour put on by the avenging Jehovah is now de¬
scribed under figures borrowed from the usages of war. It is useless to
conjecture as to the exact application of each particular part of the uniform.
Righteousness, says Clericus, might just as well have been a sword, salva¬
tion a shield, vengeance a javelin or spear and zeal a torch with which to
fire the hostile camp. The first piece of armour is better understood as the
habergeon or coat-of-mail from which all darts of the enemy rebound,
while the helmet of salvation stands as a guarantee of the ultimate object
for which He enters into the conflict, i. e., the deliverance and redemption
of His people. His vengeance is compared to the bright-colored military
coat worn over the coat-of-mail, and His zeal to the fiery red military
mantle.
Ver. 18. “to the islands”, —i. e., representatives of the heathen
world. In this sentence, says Delitzsch, the prophet seems to conceal the
special judgment upon Israel under the universal judgment upon all
nations.
"This verse", says Fausset, "predicts the judgments at the Lord’s
second coming which shall precede the final redemption of His people
(Chap. 66.13,15,16)."
Ver. 19. As a result of this judgment, from all quarters of the earth,
fear of Jehovah’s name and of His glory becomes natural to the world of
nations. The last clause of this verse has been the subject of great con¬
troversy, commentators differing more or less as to the meaning of every
word, as well as to the meaning of the clause as a whole. There are two,
among the many interpretations, that deserve especial attention:
(1) “for he (Jehovah) shall come as a rushing river, which a strong
wind (Jehovah’s own breath or Spirit) driveth along.” (Lo. Na. Ew.
Lut. Ges. Del.) This is now the almost prevailing view, but in addition
to a number of grammatical questions which it raises, it seems incongruous
to liken Jehovah to a river which His own breath drives along, and the
image of a stream rendered rapid by the wind is most unnatural.
(2) “when he (the enemy) will come as a rushing stream the Spirit
of Jehovah shall lift up a standard against him ” This is the version of
the English and the Dutch Bibles. (V. F. He.) This rendering is entirely
defensible and it is difficult to see where that of our text has made any
improvement over it. It does have this objection to it, namely, that the
context does not lead us to expect an allusion to the enemy coming against
God but just the reverse; however, this is not a serious objection. Cocceius
has given us a somewhat ingenious interpretation, which Alexander has
adopted, in the rendering, “when He (Jehovah) approaches as their enemy,
it will be like an overflowing stream, in which his spirit (Jehovah's) lifts
up the banner of victory”,
111
ISAIAH
Ver. 20. There is of course no logical distinction between “Zion"
and " them that turn from transgression in Jacob", the apparent distinction
being merely a rhetorical one.
Says Delitzsch, who reads “for Zion”, “In Rom. 11.26 this utterance
of God is cited by the apostle as a Scripture proof for the future restoration
of all Israel.”
Fausset says, “Paul applies this verse to the coming restoration of
Israel spiritually.”
“will come to Zion", —This is the reading of both the English and
the Revised versions, but the particle can hardly be said to denote motion
or direction, although it is sometimes used in this sense. It properly
denotes, as Alexander says, relation in the widest sense and is commonly
equivalent to “as to" or “with respect to" and the expression therefore
seems to indicate that the Redeemer's coming has respect to Zion. The
Septuagint version renders it “for the sake of Zion ”.
Paul in quoting this verse makes it say “out of Zion", supplementing
the sense by inspiration from Psa. 1 4.7. He was and is come to Zion first
with redemption, being sprung as a man out of Zion.
Alexander says, “Even Paul's translation, ‘out of Zion', although it
seems to completely reverse the sense, is not so wholly inconsistent with it
as some have maintained; for though the Hebrew word does not mean
‘from’, it does mean that which may include ‘from Zion’ in its scope,
because it might be by going out of Israel that He was to act as her deliverer,
and the apostle might intend by his translation to suggest the idea that
Zion’s Redeemer was to be also the Redeemer of the Gentiles.”
Scofield says, “The time when the Redeemer shall come to Zion is
fixed relatively by Rom. 1 1.23-29 as following the completion of the
Gentile Church. That is also the order of the great dispensational pas¬
sage. (Acts 13.14-17.) In both, the return of the Lord to Zion follows
the outcalling of the Church.”
CHAPTER SIXTY
The following quotations set forth the method of approach to a
passage of this kind by the two prevailing schools of interpretation.
Alexander says, “The chapter refers to spiritual Israel, the Church;
though Israel’s national pre-eminence was to be discontinued because of
her sins the true spiritual Israel was to be ushered into a new and far more
glorious experience which the prophet describes as a light rising upon her.”
Fausset says, “This chapter is an ode to Zion upon her restoration at
the second coming to her true position as mother of the Church from
which the Gospel is to be diffused to the whole Gentile world. The first
promulgation of the Gospel to the Gentiles beginning at Jerusalem was
but an earnest of this.”
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon
thee. 2 For, behold, darkness shall cover
the earth, and gross darkness the peo¬
ples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee.
and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And nations shall come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness of thy ris¬
ing.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and
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ISAIAH
see: they all gather themselves together,
they come to thee; thy sons shall come
from far, and thy daughters shall be
Carried in the arms. 5 Then thou shalt
see and be radiant, and thy heart shall
thrill and be enlarged; because the abun¬
dance of the sea shall be turned unto
thee, the wealth of the nations shall
come unto thee. 6 The multitude of
camels shall cover thee, the 2 dromedaries
of Midian and Ephah; all they from
Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold
and frankincense, and shall "proclaim
*Heb. nursed upon the side.
v Or, young camels
8 Heb. bring good tidings of the praises
the praises of Jehovah. 7 Ail the flocks
of Kedar shall be gathered together unto
thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister
unto thee; they shall come up with ac¬
ceptance on mine altar; and I will
4 glorify "the house of my glory. 8 Who
are these that fly as a cloud, and as the
doves to their windows? 9 Surely the
isles shall wait for me, and the ships of
Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from
far, their silver and their gold with
them, for the name of Jehovah thy God,
and for the Holy One of Israel, because
he hath "glorified thee.
4 Or, beautify
B Or, my beautiful house
®Or, beautified
Vers. 1-9. The Gathering OF THE NATIONS TO JERUSALEM.
Ver. 1. “Arise”, —i. e., from the dust where thou hast been sitting
as a mourning female captive.
“shine”, —Gesenius translates with the margin, “be enlightened”,
but our text is better, the literal of which is “be light”. She is to shine
and so give spiritual light to others, but she is not to shine in her own
light, but to let herself be enlightened, as the next clause shows.
“the glory of Jehovah”, —This is a description of the kind of light
that has come. It is the glory of the Lord in person, although there is
doubtless an allusion to the Shekinah and the cloudy pillar such as rested
above the Ark.
The words of this verse are not those of a prophetic chorus (V.), but
of Isaiah speaking in the name of Jehovah.
Ver. 2. It is not that Zion shall be glorious because of the exclusive
light she enjoys while other nations are sitting in gross darkness, but
because the light which has shone upon her shall be “seen" (seen conspicu¬
ously, as the Hebrew word expresses it) by these nations and draw them
to her.
Ver. 3. "'thy rising”, —Literally “thy sun rising”, meaning the
brightness that has arisen upon her.
Ver. 4. “ they . . . they”, —Delitzsch makes these pronouns refer
to the “sons" and “daughters” who bring the Gentiles with them, but it
seems almost necessary to refer these pronouns to the “nations” of the
previous verse, while the sons and the daughters are doubtless the Jews
brought back or attended by the Gentiles who come to worship Jehovah.
“carried in the arms”, —The Hebrew is “nursed upon the side” , i. e.,
carried, with an allusion to the oriental custom of carrying the child on
the side astride the hip.
Alexander of course says this has reference only to the enlargement
of the Church and has nothing to do with a return to Palestine after cap¬
tivity or a future restoration of Israel. Others maintain that all three
thoughts are contained in the expression. (F. Na. He. Lo. Del.)
Ver. 5. “see”, —About sixty manuscripts read “fear” (V. Um. Lo.
Do. Jus. Ges. Mic.), meaning the painful sensation which often attends
113
ISAIAH
joy, and which is expressed in the next clause. Vitringa says "see" is a
vain repetition of the preceding verse, while Knobel says to express "fear"
twice in this verse is inexcusable tautology. The words in Hebrew are
very alike, just a slight difference in the pointing. On the whole, "see" is
to be preferred. (F. Na. Ew. He. Kn. Ma. Hit. Cle. Ros. Lut. Kim. Jer.
Tar. Syr. Sept.) The idea then is the seeing of the bringing back of her
sons and daughters.
"be radiant”, —The word means "to brighten up" (for joy) as in
Psa. 34.6.
"thy heart shall thrill ",—i. e., tremble, because of the overpowering
impression made by this complete change. (F. Al. Na. Ho. Del.) Hen¬
derson thinks it was because she had apprehension that she would not
have room enough for all who were coming.
‘‘and be enlarged” ,—i. e. f dilate, swell, throb with joy.
"abundance of the sea ",—i. e., the wealth, the costly things belonging
to the islands and coast-lands. The Gentiles are to devote themselves and
their possessions to the service of Jehovah.
Ver. 6. So many of the merchandise-bearing animals, the ships of
the desert, shall come that they will “cover” her, i. e. the country will
swarm with them.
Ver. 7. By a bold figure the rams are represented as offering them¬
selves acceptably. The word rendered “with acceptance " signifies rather
"with pleasure, delight" or "good-will" (V. F. He. Hit. Del.), "it being
a general notion", says Lowth, "that prevailed with sacrificers among the
heathen that the victims being brought without reluctance to the altar
was a good omen; and the contrary a bad one."
"the house of my glory” ,—The temple was built for His glory, and
now He will make its internal glory like its external glory by adorning it
with the gifts brought in homage by the world of converted Gentiles.
Fausset says of the house of Jehovah’s glory, "See the temple of Ezek.
41." Delitzsch says, "None of the prophets of the Old Testament is
able to think of the worship of Jehovah by the Israel of the latter days
without the offering of sacrifices; but it would be a return to the limited
conceptions of the Old Testament if one were to conclude that animal
sacrifice will ever be restored. The dividing-wall of national particularism
and ceremonial observances forming shadows of things to come will never
be re-established; and with the cessation of sacrificial worship since the fiery
judgment fell upon the second temple, there has forever passed away the
restriction of worship to any one central spot on earth (John 4.21)."
Says Donald Moore, "The picture drawn in this section perplexes
those who understand it of the literal restoration of the Jews and of the
future glory of the earthly Jerusalem. Hess, Baumgarten and others argue
from verse 7 for the restoration of animal sacrifices. But Delitzsch justly
rejects this notion as being utterly inconsistent with and contrary to the
Christian system. But if the victims and the altar here spoken of are not
to be taken literally, why should we look for a material temple or construe
literally the other traits of the picture? The whole description represents
not the material Jerusalem, but the Church of God under images, which,
to be consistently interpreted, cannot be taken in a gross, literal sense."
114
ISAIAH
Says Alexander, "Grotius supposes this prediction to have been liter¬
ally verified in Herod's temple. Gesenius and other Germans easily dispose
of it as a fanatical anticipation. It is much more embarrassing to those
who make the passage a prediction of the future restoration of the Jews
and the future splendor of the literal Jerusalem. Some of the most intrepid
writers of this class consistently apply their fundamental principle of
literal interpretation and believe that the Mosaic ritual or something like
it is to be restored. But such interpreters as J. D. Michaelis and Hender¬
son, who cannot go this length, are obliged to own that spiritual services
are here represented under forms and titles borrowed from the old dispen¬
sation."
Ver. 8. Said perhaps, says Vitringa, with reference to the ships
sailing in from the sea in cloud-like form with spread sails.
Ver. 9. “the isles shall wait for me", —This is meant to be under¬
stood in the same way as in Chap. 51.5, and like the "expectant waiting"
of the isles in Chap. 42.4, the word containing a firm expectation of some¬
thing to be experienced.
“their", —This is by some referred to “isles" (F. Del.), but we prefer
with our text, to connect it with “sons" as the nearer and more natural
antecedent. (AI. Na.)
“the ships of Tarshish first", —The ships that trade to the most dis¬
tant region shall be among the very foremost to bring back the sons of
Israel.
10 And foreigners shall build up thy
walls, and their kings shall minister un¬
to thee: for in my wrath I smote thee,
but in my favor have I had mercy on
thee. 11 Thy gates also shall be open
continually; they shall not be shut day
nor night; that men may bring unto
thee the wealth of the nations, and their
kings led captive. 12 For that nation
and kingdom that will not serve thee
shall perish; yea, those nations shall be
utterly wasted. 13 The glory of Leba¬
non shall come unto thee, the fir-tree,
the pine, and the box-tree together, to
beautify the place of my sanctuary; and
I will make the place of my feet glori¬
ous. 14 And the sons of them that
afflicted thee shall come bending unto
thee; and all they that despised thee
shall bow themselves down at the soles
of thy feet: and they shall call thee The
city of Jehovah, The Zion of the Holy
One of Israel.
15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken
and hated, so that no man passed
through thee, I will make thee an eter¬
nal excellency, a joy of many genera¬
tions. lfi Thou shalt also suck the milk
of the nations, and shalt suck the breast
of kings; and thou shalt know that I,
Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Re¬
deemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Vers. 10-16. The RESTORATION OF JERUSALEM TO GLORY.
Ver. 1 0. Delitzsch says on the first half of this verse, "The walls of
Zion rise out of their ruins—foreigners, quite overcome through the inter¬
position of Jehovah, rendering personal service in the work, while foreign
kings are ready to help Zion; of this assistance the arrangements made
through the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes Longimanus were
but a prelude to what continued pointing to the latter days, though, in the
view of the prophet, the time after the exile is itself the time of the end."
Ver. 1 1 . “kings led captive" , —Not so much "pompously attended"
(Lo.),^ nor "escorted" (V. Ros. Kim. Ges.), but the word means " con¬
ducted ", i. e., “led as captive", not, however, in the sense that their own
115
ISAIAH
people disgusted with their rule deliver them up (Hit.), but as Delitzsch
says, "led by the Church which irresistibly enchains them, i. e., conquers
their hearts so that they let themselves be brought as God’s captives in
triumphal procession to the Holy City."
Ver. 12. A reason primarily for the promise of increase to Jehovah’s
people and secondarily for the Gentile kings submitting themselves to them
in service.
Donald Moore says, "They who consider the literal Jerusalem to be
the subject of this prophecy, and not the Church of God, may well ask
themselves if literal destruction will really be the punishment of every
nation and kingdom that will not serve the Jews. But it is not they that
are born of the flesh who are the heirs of this promise, but they who are
Christ’s, and so the true seed of Abraham, the Israel of God. The Gen¬
tile Christians are not doomed to bondage."
Ver. 13. " The glory of Lebanon ”,—i. e., of her trees, her cedars
and her luxuriant vegetation.
“to beautify the place of my sanctuary”, —Many think the adorn¬
ment is that of the buildings by the choicest kinds of timber, but others
take it quite properly as the adornment of the grounds by living trees, this
being more in keeping with the poetical tone of the context and more
pleasing in itself. (Na. Al. Kn. Ew. Hit. Del.) The place of His sanc¬
tuary is of course Jerusalem.
"/ will make the place of my feet glorious”, —i. e., the place where I
habitually stand and walk (Ma.), the place where He dwells in the midst
of His people forever.
Says Nagelsbach, "Though He has no temple of stone there, He has
still the place of His glorious presence, the place where His feet rest." But,
says Donald Moore, "If notwithstanding the words of Isaiah about the
temple and the sacrifices (Chap. 2.2,3 and verse 7 of this chapter), we are
justified in holding, as Nagelsbach does, that there will be in the Holy City
of God no external temple and no animal sacrifices, may we not go further
and seek a spiritual sense for the description of the future outward glory
of Jerusalem contained in this chapter?"
Ver. 16. This is not enrichment by plunder (Hit.), as of a vampire
sucking a child, but a statement that Zion shall draw unto herself and enjoy
all that is valuable of the possessions of the Gentiles.
1 7 For brass I will bring gold, and
for iron I will bring silver, and for wood
brass, and for stones iron. I will also
make thy officers peace, and x thine exac¬
tors righteousness. 18 Violence shall
no more be heard in thy land, desola¬
tion nor destruction within thy borders;
but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall
be no more thy light by day; neither
for brightness shall the moon give light
unto thee: but Jehovah will be unto
3 Or, thy taskmasters
thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy 'glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more
go down, neither shall thy moon with¬
draw itself: for Jehovah will be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy
mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy peo¬
ple also shall be all righteous: they shall
inherit the land for ever, the branch of
my planting, the work of my hands,
that I may be glorified. 22 The little
one shall become a thousand, and the
small one a strong nation: I, Jehovah
will hasten it in its time.
'Or, beauty
116
ISAIAH
Vers. 17-22. The New Life of Jerusalem to be Enjoyed by the
Restored.
Ver. 1 7. Some take the words "peace" and " righteousness" as predi¬
cates (F.), meaning that all her rulers shall be, as it were, peace and right¬
eousness itself, but the majority (S. Na. Urn. Del. Ges.) take it in the
sense that peace and righteousness shall rule. This is preferable. The
rulers may be peaceful and righteous but the city may be still disturbed
by unrighteousness, but when the government itself is peace and righteous¬
ness then all will be well. The word "exactors”, i. e., of tribute, is not
to be taken in an evil sense.
Ver. 18. "thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise",
—Delitzsch has put it well, "She has walls but in reality 'Salvation', the
salvation of her God is to her an impregnable fortification: she has gates,
but in reality all gates are rendered needless by her praise, the fame that
brings fear and reverence, with which Jehovah has invested her.”
Ver. 19. Among the various comments on the meaning of this
verse the following are worthy of notice:
Alexander,—"All natural sources of illumination shall be swallowed
up in the clear manifestation of the presence, power and will of God.”
Henderson,—"The superlative degree of happiness which shall be
enjoyed by the new and holy Jerusalem church, expressed in language of
the most sublime imagery.”
Others make it a figurative promise of prosperity of which light is
the natural and common emblem, while still others make it God’s residence
among His people clothed in such transcendent brightness as to make the
light of the sun and the moon useless.
Ver. 20. "the days of thy mourning shall be ended" ,—There shall
be no national spiritual obscuration as in other days.
Ver. 21. "the land", —Although the majority so translate (F. Na.
Del.) as a more literal and exact rendering, it must not be overlooked that
Scripture has attached to this prophetic formula a much higher meaning,
namely, the earth, the possession of the land being just such a type or
symbol of the broader, higher meaning.
Ver. 22. This verse on its face is simply a description of increase.
Vitringa and Alexander apply it to Israel itself. Gesenius and Delitzsch
say it means one without a family or a small family. Nagelsbach refers
it to the physically most insignificant, while Kimchi and Rosenmuller apply
it to number and not to size.
"it", —The reference is to this particular prophecy from verse 1 on
(Del.), and not to the whole preceding series of prophecies. (Kn. Al.)
"m its time", —i. e., the time which Jehovah hath appointed. The
word is not "his" , as in the Authorized version, but "its", and so does not
refer to Jehovah, but modifies grammatically "time", although the meaning
is as already shown one and the same thing.
117
ISAIAH
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
1 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is
upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the
'meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives, and J the opening of the
prison tc them that are bound; 2 to
proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all that mourn; 3 to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion to give
unto them a garland for ashes, the oil
of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that
they may be called trees of righteous¬
ness, the planting of Jehovah, that he
may be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes,
they shall raise up the former desola¬
tions, and they shall repair the waste
cities, the desolations of many genera¬
tions. 5 And strangers shall stand and
feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be
your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the priests of
Jehovah; men shall call you ministers
of our God; ye shall eat the wealth of
the nations, and 3 in their glory shall ye
’Or, poor
a Or, opening of the eyes
3 Or, to their glory shall ye succeed
Vers. 1-11. The Glory of the Office of Messiah, the Servant
of Jehovah.
The speaker in this chapter is the Messiah, the Servant of Jehovah.
(F. V. Na. Or. Al. Dri. Del. Che.)
The Lord’s use of this passage in His own time does not necessarily
prove Him to be the speaker here (V.). There are, however, two parallel
passages (Chap. 42.1-7 and 49.1-9) and all agree that the same speaker is
here brought forward, and if therefore it is conceded that in these two
passages just mentioned the speaker is the Messiah it is difficult to avoid
the same conclusion in the passage before us. Gesenius, Umbreit and
most modern expositors make the speaker to be the prophet himself, but
this cannot only be allowed in a subordinate sense.
Ver. 1. "fo proclaim liberty to the captives ",—Said with manifest
reference to the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25.10; Jer. 34.8,9), a year of general
release from debts and obligations of all bondmen and bondwomen. The
language may also be drawn from the deliverance of the Babylonish cap¬
tivity. It is a figurative description, of course, of the deliverance from
sin and death.
“opening of the prison ",—The Hebrew is rather “the most complete
opening”. The word is nowhere used of the opening of a room, but
always of the opening of the eyes and because of the rest of the sentence
we are here led to think of the eyes being opened as in contrast to the
boast yourselves. 7 Instead of your
shame ye shall have double; and instead
of dishonor they shall rejoice in their
portion; therefore in their land they
shall possess double; everlasting joy shall
be unto them. 8 For 1, Jehovah, love
justice, I hate robbery 4 with iniquity;
and 1 will give them their recompense in
truth, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. 9 And their seed
shall be known among the nations, and
their offspring among the peoples; all
that see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are the seed which Jehovah
hath blessed.
10 1 will greatly rejoice in Jehovah,
my soul shall be joyful in my God; for
he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
“decketh himself with a garland, and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth bringeth forth its
bud, and as the garden causeth the things
that are sown in it to spring forth; so
the Lord Jehovah will cause righteous¬
ness and praise to spring forth before
all the nations.
*Or, for (or, with ) a burnt-offering
5 Heb. decketh himself as a priest
118
ISAIAH
gloomy darkness of the prison. It is a figurative expression, of course,
prison being represented poetically as a state of darkness and deliverance
from it as a restoration to light, just as proclaiming liberty refers to the
deliverance from the bondage of sin.
Ver. 2. "the year of Jehovah's favor ',—The word "year” is used
as a poetical equivalent to "day" and was suggested perhaps by the previous
reference to the year of Jubilee. A year is assigned to grace but a day to
vengeance. “Wrath is short, but grace is long."
Scofield says, “Observe that Jesus suspended the reading of this
passage in the synagogue at the comma in the middle of the verse. The
first advent, therefore, opened the day of grace, ‘the acceptable year of
Jehovah', but does not fulfill the day of vengeance. That will be taken
up when Messiah returns. The vengeance precedes the regathering of
Israel, and synchronizes with the day of the Lord."
"them that mourn ”,—The main reference is to Zion's mourners
who are deeply affected by the desolations that have come to their city.
Ver. 3. "a garland for ashes”, —i. e., a crown, a tiara, worn in
times of joy instead of a head-dress of ashes cast on the head in mourning.
"oil of joy ”,—Perfumed oil was poured on the heads of guests at
joyous occasions.
"garment of praise”, —i. e., bright-colored garments indicative of
thankfulness.
"tre:s of righteousness ”,—Terebinth trees, symbolic of men strong in
righteousness instead of being bowed down as a reed with sin and calamity.
Ver. 4. "build the old wastes ”,—Delitzsch says these are not to be
confined merely to what was lying waste during the exile, but that now
the country is to be so densely populated that the former dwelling places
will not be sufficient; hence what is meant are localities lying waste and
situated beyond the limits of the Holy Land until now.
Henderson says, “This verse admits of no consistent interpretation
except on the principle that the Jews are to be returned again to the land
of their fathers; the desolations are those of cities that had once been
inhabited and cannot without the utmost violence be applied to the heathen
world."
Ver. 5. "And strangers shall stand ”,—They shall stand, i. e., at
their post, ready to offer their service.
Ver. 6. Your exclusive business will be the service of God, while
others attend to your flocks and fields. (F. Na. Aba.)
“The Jews appear here as the priestly nobility and the Gentiles as
those having to perform the hard work. But says the translator of Nagels-
bach, "The conversion of Israel, instead of reducing the Gentiles to the
position of menials, will conduce exceedingly to their riches, Rom. 11.12.
The prophet is speaking here not of Israel after the flesh, but of the Israel
of God, and does not here contradict what he elsewhere says about the
equal privileges of converted Gentiles. (Chap. 19.24,25; 66.21.) Even
in connection with the new heavens and the new earth our prophet speaks
of the people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves planting vineyards
119
ISAIAH
and eating their fruit (Chap. 65.17-23) and so not confining themselves
to the exercise of priestly functions. Literally understood, these places
are mutually exclusive and contradictory. They must be taken figura¬
tively."
“and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves”, —Some have thought
that the idea is that of the dispossession of the Gentiles by the Jews of
their wealth. But this does not necessarily inhere in the language even
though the reading of our text be approved. The word rendered “boast”
really means “to push upward ", to raise one's self up proudly (Del. Tar.
Sep.), and may be taken as meaning that they shall become sharers in the
glory and wealth of the Gentiles who have turned unto Jehovah.
Others again make the literal translation of the word to mean, "ye
shall substitute yourselves," i. e., in their place. Alexander has said that
all the latest writers, not excepting Gesenius, have gone back to Jarchi’s
explanation of the words as denoting "mutual exchange or substitution ’,
thus making this verse and the previous one describe not exaltation on the
part of the Jews and subjection on the part of the Gentile converts, but
mutual exchange and intimate association. He says that context, etymol¬
ogy, and usage all favor this view, and consequently the true idea is that
while the Jews shall be priests the Gentiles shall be their purveyors, the
Jews supplying the spiritual wants of the Gentiles and the latter supplying
the temporal wants of the Jews. (See Rom. 15.27.)
Ver. 7. “Instead of your shame ye shall have double”, —Double as
much reward as your past share. (F. Al. Tar. Ges. Jar.) Twice as much
reward as before they had shame. (He. Na.) Double possession in the
land, which has been enlarged beyond the bounds of former occupation,
as seen by the last half of the verse. (Del.)
The first explanation is much to be preferred.
“in their land they shall possess double”, —Nagelsbach thinks the
reference is not to an enlarged land and an enlarged inheritance of the indi¬
vidual in it, but that there is added to their own honor and their own
possessions the wealth and possessions of the Gentiles.
Fausset says the expression marks the reference as being to literal
Israel and not to the Church at large.
Ver. 8. “I, Jehovah , love justice” ,—i. e., the justice which requires
of me that I should restore my people and give them double in compensa¬
tion for their former shame and suffering.
“I hate robbery with iniquity”, —There seems to be a little redund¬
ancy here, as Jerome says, all robbery being iniquitous; but there are a mul¬
titude of places where such redundancy of expression occurs. The refer¬
ence is to such robbery as was perpetrated on Israel. Delitzsch thinks it
refers to the injustice formerly rampant in Israel, but his reasons are hardly
sufficient.
Ver. 9. “known”, —i. e., known honorably.
Alexander here maintains that the Jews are represented as scattered
among the Gentile nations instead of being gatherd out of them into their
own land, because otherwise how could they be thus known.
Ver. 10. Zion gives thanks for God’s returning favor.
120
ISAIAH
Some (Al. Na. Del.) say the speaker here is still the Messiah, the
Servant of Jehovah.
"decketh himself with a garland", —"Maketh himself a priestly head¬
dress (F.) ; "weareth the turban like a priest" (Del.), i. e., winds it around
his head after the manner of a priest, the reference being to the tall mitre
of the ordinary priest, and appropriate to the "kingdom of priests" dedi¬
cated to the offering of spiritual sacrifices to God continually.
Ver. 11. By "bud" is meant the tender shoot, by "righteousness",
moral excellence in particular, and by "praise," the manifestation of excel¬
lence in general.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my
peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will
not rest, until her righteousness go forth
as brightness, and her salvation as a
lamp that burneth. 2 And the nations
shall see thy righteousness, and all kings
thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a
new name, which the mouth of Jeho¬
vah shall name. 3 Thou shalt also be a
crown of beauty in the hand of Jeho¬
vah, and a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God. 4 Thou shalt no more be
termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land
any more be termed Desolate: but thou
shalt be called ‘Hephzi-bah, and thy
land “Beulah: for Jehovah delighteth in
thee, and thy land shall be married. 5
For as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall thy sons marry thee; and "as
the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem: they shall never
hold their peace day nor night: ye that
are Jehovah’s remembrancers, 4 take ye
'That ia, My delight is in her
“That ia, Married
®Heb. with the joy of the bridegroom
4 Or, keep not silence
no rest, 7 and give him no "rest, till he
establish, and till he‘make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth. 8 Jehovah hath
sworn by his right hand, and by the arm
of his strength, Surely I will no more
give thy grain to be food for thine
enemies; and foreigners shall not drink
thy new wine for which thou hast lab¬
ored: 9 but they that have garnered it
shall cat it, and praise Jehovah; and
they that have gathered it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.
10 Go through, go through the
gates; prepare ye the way of the people:
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out
the stones; lift up an ensign fl for the
peoples. 11 Behold, Jehovah hath pro¬
claimed unto the end of the earth, Say
ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold,
thy salvation cometh; behold, his re¬
ward is with him, and his Recompense
before him. 12 And they shall call
them The holy people, The redeemed
of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called
Sought out, A city not forsaken.
6 Or, silence
6 Or, over
7 Or, work
Vers. 1-12. The Further Development of the Glory of Jeru¬
salem.
Bredenkamp and most later interpreters think it is the prophet himself
who is here speaking. Many others (S. Na. He. Al. Coc.) make the
Messiah still the speaker. Delitzsch thinks it is Jehovah Himself, as
shown by the first part of verse 6 and also by the expression employed.
We see no reason for any change of speaker from the one who is repre¬
sented as uttering the words of the former chapter, and if an exclusive
subject must be chosen it is without doubt the Messiah.
Ver. 1. "I will not rest", —This with the previous expression, "I
will not hold my peace", refers then not to the further predicting of Zion's
glory, but to prayer on Zion's behalf, as most take it. Messiah is repre¬
sented as unfainting in His efforts on behalf of His people.
121
ISAIAH
"her righteousness—her salvation ",—The same as in Chap. 61.10
and elsewhere.
Ver. 2. "thou shalt be called by a neuj name" ,—i. e., as expressive
of her new condition and character.
Ver. 3. "in the hand of Jehovah" ,—i. e., that He might hold it fast
and keep it safe (V.), that He might admire it (Ew. Bre.), that He might
exhibit it (Coc.), that He might crown Himself with it (Pis.), that it
might be at His disposal for bestowment (Mic.). Gesenius says the hand
of Jehovah is figurative for His power or protection, and this is perhaps
the best solution to the problem, and therefore the first explanation made
is to be preferred.
Ver. 4. It would be better to retain all four words in the Hebrew,
Azubah, Shemamah, Hephzibah and Beulah, or to put in the text their
meaning in all four cases.
"thy land shall be married", —i. e., to Jehovah, implying His pro¬
tection as well as His ownership.
Ver. 5. "so shall thy sons marry thee ",—There is here a seeming
incongruity of sons marrying their mother.
Alexander says the word rendered "marry" means as well "fo in¬
habit" and that it is used in this sense here and so the difficulty is avoided. 1
Fausset following Lowth changes the points, which are of no authority ini
Hebrew and reads "thy builder" and refers the expression to Jehovah, ini
keeping with what has gone before and with the close of this verse.
Gesenius objects to this by calling attention to the fact that the word
is plural and cannot therefore refer to God. But this is not an objection,
as seen by a comparison of Gen. 20.13; 35.7; II Sam. 7.23 whereas the
plural form "builders" may be used here of Jehovah in reference, as hus¬
bands. The real objection to the change is that it is not necessary. The
word, which in itself expresses only "taking possession of" may be used
here as Alexander would have us believe, or we may think, as Delitzsch
does of Israel and the homeland being blended and intertwined in the
personification here employed. Viewed in her relation to Jehovah she*
has Him for her Lord and Husband; viewed in her relation to her home¬
land she is the totality of those who are its possessors, and who call the.
land their own, as it were by the right of marriage.
Ver. 6. "watchmen ",—The reference is not to “intercessory angels"
(Ew. Hah. Che.), nor to pious Israelites, who among the ruins of the
walls await the return of the exiles (Ges.), because the appointment of such
watchmen presupposes the existence of such walls and the restoration of
the city, and if the watchers are upon the walls formerly destroyed but
now rebuilt, then it must be a post-exilic picture to which our attention is
being called.
Fausset says it is an image of the watchers set upon a city wall to look
out for the approach of a messenger of good tidings, the good tidings in
this case being the return of the exiles from Babylon, prefiguring the return
of the Jews from their present time dispersion throughout the world.
The watchers are not necessarily there to give notice of the approach
of enemies, as Nagelsbach says, thus showing that even then there will be
122
ISAIAH
enemies of Jerusalem, even though it be such a time as has been described;
but the rather, as Delitzsch says, to lift up their entreating cry to Jehovah
for the holy city entrusted to their care, the watchmen being the same as
the " remembrancers " mentioned in the latter part of the verse. The post-
exilian Jerusalem, says Delitzsch, is one with the Jerusalem of the last days
In the eyes of the prophet.
The speaker is still here to be considered as Messiah (Na.) although
Delitzsch insists that Jehovah is still speaking, while in the latter part of
the verse this writer thinks the prophet is introduced in an address to
"Jehovah’s remembrancers’'. Others (F. Ges.) think the speaker is the
prophet, even in the beginning of the verse, speaking in the name of the
Messiah.
Ver. 8. These words come not so much as an answer to the prayer
of the remembrancers (Na.) as an assurance to inspire them with confidence
in prayer.
Ver. 9. “In the courts of my sanctuary'', —This is not to be con¬
strued that the harvest produce will be consumed only in this place, but
that its enjoyment will be consecrated through a festal meal of a religious
character.
Ver. 10. What has been solemnly promised in the two preceding
verses is now to be fulfilled. Here at least we may concede that the speaker
is the prophet speaking in the name of Jehovah.
Alexander thinks that the analogy of Chap. 57.14, together with
the context here makes it probable that what is here described is "the
entrance of the Gentiles into Zion, an event so frequently and so fully set
forth in the preceding chapters."
Gesenius, followed by Delitzsch, thinks the address is to the exiled
Jews in Babylon and other cities to go through the gates of these cities, to
march out of Babylon upon their return from exile.
Henderson, Fausset, Rosenmuller and others think the address is to
the Gentile nations to go through the gates of their own cities, in order
to remove all obstacles out of the way of the returning Israelites.
The second explanation is perhaps more nearly correct, although
there is little ground on which to rest the decision one way or the other.
We are rather inclined to the idea of Nagelsbach, who thinks the address,
while primarily to the Jews, includes the Gentiles also. They are all to
pass through the gates and to prepare the way by the removal of obstacles
and to assist in making the return home practicable, easy and glorious.
The expressions that follow are rhetorical and not to be literally under¬
stood of course.
“lift up an ensign for the peoples' \—Since the people are scattered
much, not all being in one city, the command goes forth to lift up a
standard “high over " (Al. Lut. Del.), not “to" (Vul. Sep.), or hardly
“f or" (our text, Mic.), the people so that the scattered ones in all places
may see and come and join the outgoing procession back to the holy land.
Ver. 11. " unto the end of the earth ",—This shows that reference
is not being made merely to a proclamation published in the realm of
Cyrus, but to the very ends of the earth, wherever the scattered ones of
123
ISAIAH
Israel are to be found—there it is to be told to the daughter of Zion that
her salvation is coming.
"Say ye", etc., —Those who are commanded to say this are not merely
the prophets in Israel, but all the mourners in Zion wherever they may be.
According to analogy of Chap. 40.10 the reference in the pronoun "his" in
both cases is to Jehovah.
Ver. 12. " And they shall call", etc., —The verb is indefinite and
the expression means "men shall call", etc .
"Sought out", —The city will be sought after and loved by all and
especially by Jehovah. The expression answers to "not forsaken" in the
parallel clause. Jerusalem shall be no longer abandoned but highly prized
and loved.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
1 Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with ‘dyed garments from Boz-
rah? this that is glorious in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his
strength? I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine ap¬
parel, and thy garments like him that
treadeth in the winevat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone;
and of the peoples there was no man
with me; yea, I 2 trod them in mine
anger, and trampled them in my wrath;
and rheir 3 life-blood 4 is sprinkled upon
’Or, crimsoned,
J Or, will trend . . and trample
3 Or, strength
■*Or, shall be
my garments, and I “have stained all my
raiment.
4 For the day of veangeance ‘was in
my heart, and 7 the year of my redeemed
is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none
to help; and I wondered that there was
none to uphold; therefore mine own
arm brought salvation unto me; and my
wrath, it upheld me.
6 And I ‘trod down the peoples in
mine anger, and “made them drunk in
my wrath, and I ‘“poured out their
lifeblood on the earth.
5 Or, u til stain
6 Or, is
7 Or, my year of redemption
3 Or, I will tread . . . and make . . . and
/ will four out
'“’Another reading" is, brake them in pieces.
10 Or, brought down their strength to the
earth.
Vers. 1-6. The Day OF VENGEANCE.
Ver. 1. The question here is to be put in the mouth of the prophet
himself. The question is rhetorical, as the prophet well knows who it is,
but the question is put to awaken our attention and direct it to the One
whom the prophet sees coming. Messiah is pictured as approaching Jeru¬
salem after having taken vengeance on the enemies of His people and Him¬
self, and He is represented under imagery taken from the destruction of
Edom, the last and most bitter foe of the people of Israel. He comes from
Bozrah, the chief city of Edom, with garments "dyed" (crimsoned) with
the blood of the Edomites.
"marching", —The literal is
self-consciousness.
"throwing back his head", in proud
The last clause of this verse is Messiah’s answer to the question.
"speak in righteousness", —Righteousness is here used adverbially, as
frequently, and means to speak strictly according to the standard of truth,
and the expression is not therefore with Fausset and others (Ma. Kn. Hit.)
124
ISAIAH
to be rendered “speak of righteousness i. e., of salvation as the result of
His righteousness.
Interpreters are much divided as to the meaning of the passage.
Rosenmuller thinks the restored Jews might be apprehensive of the
enmity of certain neighboring nations, who had rejoiced in their calamity,
and that the prophecy before us was intended to allay their apprehension.
Henderson thinks the prophet is deducing an argument from Jeho¬
vah's past dealings with His ancient people in favor of His graciously
regarding them in their then distantly future dispersion, and that therefore
no reference is made to any future judgments to be inflicted on the country
formerly occupied by the Edomites.
Calvin disputes any reference to the Messiah whatsoever and finds
here simply the announcement of a future judgment on Edom. This is
practically also the view of Hitzig, Umbreit, Gesenius, Beck and a number
of other modern scholars.
The Fathers applied the passage directly to the sufferings and ascension
of Christ, and many of them put the question, “Who is this that cometh,”
etc., in the mouth of angels who guard the gates of heaven.
Vitringa understands by Bozrah the city of Rome and Edom as the
countries captured by Rome, and he applies the passage to the overthrow
of the Antichrist (Rome) by the warrior who rides on the white horse in
Rev. 19.11.
Stier is of the opinion that the one who is seen coming is Christ com¬
ing from the fulfillment of what is related in Rev. 14.20 and 19.18,21.
Delitzsch finds the historical fulfillment of the prophecy in what befell
Edom at the hands of the Maccabean princes, while its final fulfillment, he
thinks, is the destruction of the Antichrist and his hosts, which is the New
Testament counterpart to this piece.
There is no doubt whatever but that the prophecy must be taken as
a threatening against Edom and that Rosenmuller has the right idea as to
the connection with what goes before it. As Delitzch says, “The dis¬
course anticipates the question as to how Israel can rejoice in renewed pos¬
session of the land of its inheritance, if, as before, it is still to be sur¬
rounded by such malevolent neighbors as the Edomites." As to its typical
reference it must be that of the judgment of the end-time upon the Anti¬
christ.
Ver. 2. “wtne-vat”, —The wine-press wherein grapes were trodden
by the feet by reason of which the garments become stained with the juice.
Ver. 3. The reply of the Messiah. He treads the wine-press not as
a sufferer, but as an inflicter. Many writers think that John had these
words in mind when he wrote Rev. 19.13-15. (F. Na.) The verbs, as
usual in animated discourse, are in the past tense.
“and of the peoples there was no man with me”, —This indicates
the universal antichristian spirit of the nations. The reason of this is that
it was the nations themselves that were cut off like grapes and put into the
wine-press.
Fausset says, "This final blow inflicted by the Messiah and His armies
(Rev. 19.13-15) shall decide His claim to the Kingdom usurped by Satan
125
ISAIAH
and by the Beast to whom Satan delegates his power. It will be a day of
judgment to the hostile Gentiles just as His first coming was a day of
judgment to the unbelieving Jews."
Ver. 4. Since the verbs in verse 3 were rendered in the past tense
it would seem best to so render them both here, “was in my heart", i. e., in
my mind, in my thought, and "had come”.
As in Chap. 34.8 and Chap. 61.2 the time of vengeance is described
as a “day” and that of grace and reward to the redeemed as a “year”
Ver. 5. These are the same words as found in Chap. 59.16, except
there the word “righteousness 1 is found instead of “wrath”, the latter
being an equivalent for the former. His wrath being but the executioner
and agent of His righteousness and justice.
Says Nagelsbach, "It will happen again as it did in the days of Edom;
the Lord will see none of the peoples of the world on His side."
7 I will make mention of the loving-
kindnesses of Jehovah, and the praises of
Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah
hath bestowed on us, and the great
goodness toward the house of Israel,
which he hath bestowed on them accord¬
ing to his mercies, and according to the
multitude of his lovingkindnesses. 8
For he said, Surely they are my people,
children that will not deal falsely: so
he was their Saviour. 9 ’In all their
affliction he was afflicted, and the angel
of his presence saved them: in his love
and in his pity he redeemed them; and
he bare them, and carried them all the
days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his
holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to
be their enemy, and himself fought
against them. 1 1 'Then he remembered
the days of old. Moses and his people,
saying, Where is he that brought them
up out of the sea with the “shepherds
of his flock? where is he that put his
holy Spirit in the midst of them? 12
that caused his glorious arm to go at
the right hand of Moses? that divided
'Another reading - is, hi all (heir adversity
he was mo adversary
''Or, Then his -people remembered the ancient
days of Moses &*e.
’Another reading is, shepherd.
the waters before them, to make himself
an everlasting name? 13 that led them
through the depths, as a horse in the
wilderness, so that they stumbled not?
14 As the cattle that go down into the
valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused
them to rest: so didst thou lead thy peo¬
ple. to make thyself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven, and be¬
hold from the habitation of thy holiness
and of thy glory: where are thy zeal and
thy mighty acts, the yearning of thy
heart and thy compassions are restrained
toward me. I 6 For thou art our Father,
though Abraham knoweth us not, and
Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou,
O Jehovah, art our Father: our Redeem¬
er from everlasting is thy name. 17 0
Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err
from thy ways, and hardenest our heart
from thy fear? Return for thy serv¬
ants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheri¬
tance. 18 Thy holy people possessed
it but a little while: our adversaries
have trodden down thy sanctuary. 19
We are become as they over whom thou
never barest rule, as they that were not
called by thy name.
Vers. 7-19. Thanksgiving, Confession and Supplication of
Jehovah’s People.
Ver. 7. The speaker here is the prophet speaking in the name of
Jehovah’s people. Favor in the past becomes the foundation of supplica¬
tion for the future. The plurals, says Fausset, and the repetitions imply
that language is inadequate to express all the goodness of God.
"The passage must be understood", says Alexander, "as relating to
the favors experienced and the sins committed by the chosen people
throughout the period of the old dispensation."
126
ISAIAH
The prevailing opinion is that we have here a prophecy relating to
the future restoration of Israel. (V. F.)
Fausset says, "us" refers to the Jews in the time just preceding their
final restoration, while "house of Israel " points to Israel of all ages to
whom God had always been good.
Ver. 8. The prophet makes Jehovah the author of the saying here
quoted, but nowhere has the Lord said or did He say that Israel would not
lie and prove false; indeed He knew they would do so and would not keep
faith with Him.
Fausset, and with him are the majority, explains the word “said” as
a saying in His heart, i. e., He thought, as in Psa. 95.10. Thus God is
here said, according to human modes of thought, to say within Himself
what He might naturally have expected as a result of His goodness to
Israel, and thus the enormity of their unnatural perversity is the more
vividly set forth. The verb may therefore be taken as a future of hope.
Says Delitzsch, "Jehovah looked for their gracious requital of His cove-
lant-grace by covenant-fidelity."
Ver. 9. The first clause of this verse is famous for the diversity of
ixplanation connected with it.
According to the rendering of our text the meaning is, as Delitzsch
{ays, "Just as a man may feel pain while in his person he is raised above it,
;o God feels pain without His blessedness being hurt, and God felt His
Deople's suffering; it moved Him inwardly." (V. Ew. Um. Kn. Del.
^ut. Hit. Cle. Hend.)
The rendering of our text, however, can hardly be sustained for the
*eason that in all the ancient manuscripts there is a "nor" in the text, and
rritical presumption is much in its favor. For this reason the marginal
■endering must be substituted for that of the text.
Some of the other readings, which retain the "not" are as follows;
"In all their enmity He was not an enemy." (D. Al.)
"In all their affliction there was no affliction", i. e., such as their
ins merited. (Jar.)
"In all their affliction He did not afflict them." (Jer.) But this can
lardly be said to be true, unless some modifying clause is included in the
xplanation.
"In all their affliction He was not an adversary", i. e., though He
ifflicted them He did it not in hate. (He.) But this gives two different
neanings to the same word,
"In all their distress there was no distress", i. e., of a real serious
lature. (Ges.)
(F.)
In all their straits there was no straitness in His goodness to them."
"In all their affliction there was no extreme, fatal affliction." (Auri-
rillius.)
Those who adopt the rendering of our text think the "not" is in the
ext by mistake for “to him”, i. e., "In all their affliction there was afflic-
ion to Him." But this contention can hardly be sustained.
“the angel of Hts presence ”,—This is the angel whom Jehovah sent
127
ISAIAH
with Israel and who is identified with the presence of Jehovah (Ex. 33.
14,15), and in a certain sense with Jehovah Himself. It denotes the angel
whose presence was the presence of Jehovah, or in whom Jehovah was
personally present; therefore not an angel who stands always in the
presence of Jehovah (Cle.), and so always-beholds the countenance of
Jehovah, but an angel who is Jehovah's, countenance, or in whom Jeho¬
vah’s countenance is to be seen. That this angel of Jehovah’s presence
was none other than that divine person who is represented in the New
Testament as the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image
of His person, in whose face the glory of God shines and in whom dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, even Christ, the Messiah, there can
be little if any doubt.
Ver. 10. “he . . . himself", —i. e., Jehovah. He is changed into
an adversary to those who resist His Holy Spirit.
Ver. 1 1. Here again are various interpretations.
The Dutch Bible makes Jehovah the subject of the first clause, but
makes it all the language of the people, i. e., “Once* He remembered the
days of old, but now where is \ etc . But the words "but now" are thus
supplied without authority.
The Targum supplied "lest they say" before the second clause, which
then becomes the language of Israel's enemies exulting in the failure of
Jehovah’s promises. But this idea is arbitrarily supplied and not ex¬
pressed in the text.
All are agreed that the language from the second clause on is that
of the people.
Fausset, following Jerome and Cyril, makes the first clause the lan¬
guage of Jehovah and the second with what follows, the language of the
people. This is a possible construction and is that of our text. Not¬
withstanding their perversity Jehovah forgot not His covenant of old and
therefore did not wholly forsake them. The transition, however, is
somewhat abrupt, and not to be assumed without necessity.
The marginal reading is much to be preferred, Most modern writers
since Vitringa are agreed that the first clause describes the penitent language
of the people, while what follows gives their very language. (Del.)
However, instead of taking “His people" of the text as the subject,
as is done by the marginal reading, it is better, Stier thinks, because of its
remoteness, to leave it where it is and read “they" for “He". Either con¬
struction, however, is acceptable.
The “sea" is the Red Sea, and the “shepherds" are Moses and Aaron
and other leaders. If “shepherd" be read, then the reference is to Moses
alone.
Ver. 12. “caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of
Moses", —i. e., caused His almighty power, of which His arm is the estab¬
lished symbol, to be near or present with Moses when he needed its help.
Ver. 1 3. “as a horse in the wilderness ",—By “wilderness" is here
meant the desert, free from inequalities over which a horse can run without
stumbling. So He led them through the Red Sea.
Ver. 14. “As the cattle that go, down in the valley", —i. e,, as the
droves descending from the bare hills to the grassy tracts of the lowlands.
128
ISAIAH
Ver. 15. Here begins a fervent appeal to God to pity Israel now
on the ground of His former mercies to them, an appeal which continues
to the end of the chapter and throughout the following one.
Jehovah is called upon to look down from His dwelling place in
heaven on their present distress and not restrain His love and might. He
is still their Father, and with great boldness He is besought as to why He
permitted His people to become hardened and go astray, and He is called
upon to return in His favor to His inheritance. The complaint is made
that His people had possessed only for a short time the promised land,
while their enemies had trodden down the Sanctuary, and they had become
as though they were not the chosen people of their God.
Ver. 16. “though Abraham . . . and Israel ",—By some this is ex¬
plained as meaning that these human progenitors were dead and so unable
to render help. (V. Na. Del.) Others, who read “when' for " though "
(Mocre), and still others, who retain “though" (F.), make the meaning
that natural affection and regard would cease rather than that God's
paternal love should fail, or His covenant of adoption be annulled. "Even
though Abraham, our earthly father, on whom we have prided ourselves,
disown us, Thou wilt not." (F.)
Ver. 17. The question with which this verse opens must be taken
in a permissive sense. (F. Na. Del. Lut.)
Ver. 19. The rendering of our text is approved by Nagelsbach,
Delitzsch, Lowth and the majority, while Fausset, Alexander, Barnes and
others prefer that of the Authorized Version, arguing from the analogy of
verse 18 that while the first clause points to the Jews, the second one points
to their foes. Our text, however, is much the smoother, and the grounds
for the change are far from sufficient.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
This chapter, the first verse of which in the Hebrew Bible belongs
to the preceding one, contains Israel's further prayer that Jehovah would
visibly intervene and show Himself to be the God and Father of His
people as of old. In violent agitation the prayer goes up that God would
rend the heavens, bursting forth, as it were, to execute vengeance on His
people's foe and put an end to Israel's distress (verses 1 and 2), a thing
which only a God like Himself can do as proven by His acts of old (verses
3 and 4), in spite of which Israel had sunk deeper in corruption and sin
(verses 5, 6 and 7). But Jehovah is their Father and they the work of
His hands; therefore let it please Him to be gracious (verses 8 and 9).
All the cities, Zion and Jerusalem, have been made desolate (verses 10 and
11), and surely Jehovah cannot refrain from taking vengeance and deliver¬
ing His people.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Jehovah's Answer to the Prayer of the People.
1 I ‘am inquired of by them that that sought me not: I said. Behold me,
asked rot for me: I ‘am found of them behold me. unto a nation "that was not
] Or, vj as inquired of 8 Or, as otherwise read, that hath not called
*0r, was found uf>on
129
ISAIAH
called by my name. 2 I have spread
out my hands all the day unto a rebel¬
lious people, that walk in a way that is
not good, after their own thoughts: 3
a people that provoke me to my face
continually, sacrificing in gardens, and
burning incense upon bricks: 4 that 4 sit
among the graves, and lodge in the
“secret places: that eat swine’s flesh, and
broth of abominable things is in their
vessels: 5 that say, Stand by thyself,
K)r, dwell
5 Or, vaults
come not near to me, for I am holier
than thou. These are a smoke in my
nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me: I will
not keep silence, but will recompense,
yea. I will recompense into their bosom,
7 your own iniquities, and the iniquities
of your fathers together, saith Jehovah,
that have burned incense upon the
mountains, and “blasphemed me upon
the hills: therefore will I T first measure
their work into their bosom.
8 0r, defied.
T Or, measure their former work
Vers. 1-7. Not All Israel Shall Be Saved.
Ver 1. Before promise comes first a rebuke and a menace. The
penitent portion of Israel had in her prayer identified herself with the
whole nation, but Jehovah answers that destruction and not salvation
awaits a portion of the nation, and that the larger portion.
Many writers, and among them most of the modern scholars, think
both this verse and the one following refers to unbelieving Jews. (Del.)
But there are serious objections to thus taking the words. Paul in
Rom. 10.20 refers verse 7 to the Gentiles and this Delitzsch admits has
very great weight. The difference between the Hebrew words as used
for “nation" in verse 1 and “people" in verse 2 favors the reference of the
word in verse 1, as Delitzsch also admits, to the heathen. The context
seems also to favor the thought that Jehovah is here contrasting His success
among the heathen with His want of the same among Israel. But most
of all the expression, “a nation that ivas not called by my name" can
hardly describe Israel even in her worst state of degradation.
This last objection Delitzsch relieves by using the marginal reading
of our text, “that hath not called upon my name" , which is a possible and
somewhat plausible rendering of the Hebrew. This author has also some
what to say concerning Paul’s application of the passage, but we are in¬
clined to think he deals too lightly with this important testimony. Tht
balance of argument certainly favors the reference to the Gentiles and tc
this opinion, for the reasons given, we incline. (F. S. AI. Na. Hof. Hend.)
Ver. 3. “burning incense upon bricks ",—
(1) Bricks come under the description of “hewn stones” and God's
altars according to Mosaic law must be of unhewn stones and of earth.
The heathen used hewn stones. Chiseling was also forbidden and there¬
fore they could not inscribe superstitious symbols on them as the heather
did, and bricks were more easily inscribed than stone. (F. Na.)
(2) The flat brick-paved roofs of the houses upon which sacrifice
to the sun was made. (Bo.)
(3) An allusion to some practice now unknown, but possibly con¬
nected with the curiously inscribed bricks found in modern times neai
the site of ancient Babylon. (Ros.)
(4) Altars hastily constructed and naturally out of brick as th<
superficial covering. (Al. Ges.) The first view, which is but little dif¬
ferent from this last, is the preferable one.
130
ISAIAH
Ver. 4. " sit among the graves", —i. e., for the purpose of necro-
: mancy or communing with the dead (F. Na. Del.), or sacrificing to the
dead, i. e., purificatory offering presented to the dead (V.), the former
; being the better explanation.
"lodge in the secret places", —i. e., consecrated precincts, the idol’s
inmost shrine (Ho.), where they used to sleep to have divine communica¬
tions in dreams (Jer.), or perhaps, in keeping with the former clause,
sepulchral caves. (Ma.)
The whole verse, with the one before it, is, as Alexander says, “a
ihighly wrought description of idolatrous abominations.”
Ver. 5. "/ am holier than thou", —The reference here is doubtless
• to the fact of their having gained initiation into the mysteries, or attained
a high degree of sanctity by taking part in specially sacred heathen rites
•of purification which were not sanctioned by law. Such He says are the
iprey of a continual fire whose smoke goes up perpetually before Him. The
ifire of God’s wrath was kindled at the sight and exhibited itself in smoking
•pantings from His nostrils. In Hebrew the nose is the seat of anger.
Ver. 6 . "it is written before me", —What is written before Him?
IThe punishment, the divine sentence of judgment which follows (V. Al.
Na. Ma.), or the eternal law of retribution (Urn.), or their idolatrous
•practices, their sin, in scornful contempt of Jehovah's law (Del.) ? Per-
ihaps the former explanation is the better. The meaning may be that the
ifact that he will recompense is written in a document, as in Job. 13.26
and Jer. 22.30 (V. He. Na. Lo. Noy.), although nothing further than
a decree in His own mind, an eternal purpose, is needed to give good
imeaning to the words.
”into their bosom", —Either a reference to the folds of the oriental
Idress where articles were carried and the thought of recompensing to them
imore than they can carry in their hand, i. e., a full, large measure of retri¬
bution; or, I will repay it to the very person from whom it emanated.
The clause seems to be parenthetical, and is properly repeated at the close
|of the next verse.
Ver. 7. "first measure their work", —The marginal reading cannot
be right. For why should Jehovah punish only this? The word "first"
is rightly taken as an adverb by our text. (Na. Ew. Or. Del. Bred.)
8 Thus saith Jehovah, As the new
wine is found in the cluster, and one
saith. Destroy it not, for a blessing is in
it: so will I do for my servants’ sake,
that I may not destroy them all. 9 And
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob,
and out of Judah an inheritor of my
mountains; and my chosen shall inherit
it. and my servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon shall be a ‘fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for herds
to lie down in, for my people that have
sought me. 11 But ye that forsake
Jehovah, that forget my holy mountain,
that prepare a table for 'Fortune, and
‘Or, pasture
8 Heb. Gad. See Gen. 30.11
that fill up mingled wine unto "Destiny;
1 2 I will destine you to the sword, and
ye shall all bow down to the slaughter;
because when I called, ye did not an¬
swer; when I spake, ye did not hear;
but ye did that which was evil in mine
eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted
not.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord Je¬
hovah, Behold, my servants shall eat,
but ye shall be hungry; behold, my serv¬
ants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice, but
ye shall be put to shame; 14 behold, my
servants shall sing for joy of heart, but
3 Heb. Mens
131
ISAIAH
ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and
shall wail for 4 vexation of spirit. 15
And ye shall leave your name for "a
curse unto my chosen; and the Lord
Jehovah will slay thee; and he will call
his servants by another name: 1 6 so that
^Hcb. breaking
5 Heb. an oath
he who blesseth himself in the earth
shall bless himself in the God of “truth;
and he that sweareth in the earth shall
swear by the God of “truth; because the
former troubles are forgotten, and be¬
cause they are hid from mine eyes,
°Heb. Amen See II Cor. 1.20; Rev. 3.14.
Vers. 8-16. Not All Israel Shall Be Cast Off. The Remnant
To Be Saved.
Even as in a cluster of grapes, consisting of good and bad berries, there
is a blessing, i. e., the wine-producing juice of the good berries, and there¬
fore the whole cluster will not be thrown away; so God will spare the
godly remnant while the ungodly mass of the nation shall be destroyed.
The meaning is not therefore, as Knobel says, “He will not destroy the
grapes along with the stem and husks*’, nor is the contrast between the
good clusters and other bad clusters (Al.), but it is as J. D. Michaelis and
others (F. Na. Del.) say, “He will not destroy the grapes that have good
sap in them along with the preponderant bad ones."
“my servants', —The remnant according to the election of grace.
(Rom. 11.28.)
Ver. 9. “my mountains”, —Not Mount Zion and Mount Moriah
only (V.), but the whole of Palestine. (F. Al. Na. Del.)
Nearly all modern German commentators say this verse predicts the
restoration of the Jews from Babylon.
Here again the two schools of interpretation are at widest divergence.
Henderson says the future happy occupation of Palestine by a regenerated
remnant of Jews is here clearly predicted; while Alexander says it predicts
the perpetuation of the Jewish Church in the remnant which believed on
Christ, and which, enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles, is heir to all
the promises of the Church of the old dispensation.
Ver. 10. “the valley of Achor a place for herds ',—Achor means
trouble . It is a valley near Jericho so called because of the trouble caused
to Israel by Achan’s sin. This valley, proverbial for whatever caused
calamity, shall become proverbial for joy and prosperity.
As Sharon was noted for its verdure, so also, some think, was Achor.
this last being made more probable from the fact that Hosea says it shall
be a “door of hope’*.
Some think that because Sharon was on the Mediterranean and Achan
was by the Jordan these two are chosen as showing the whole breadth ot
the land from west to east.
Ver. 11. The words “ Fortune” and "Destiny” refer to two heathen
deities and the last half of this verse refers to meals of the gods held in
their honor. The Hebrew for the word is “Gad’’ and “Meni”.
Gad, as the name of a divinity, means doubtless the star of fortune,
of which the Babylonians had two, Jupiter, whom the Arabs named
“Great Fortune”, and Venus, whom they named “Little Fortune”, and
which in our text is represented by Meni, which Goddess was supposed
to number the fates or the destiny of men.
132
ISAIAH
Vitringa and Knobcl think Gad refers to the sun and Meni to the
moon.
The Authorized Version, and with it many interpreters, understands
the word Gad as meaning “troop", as in Gen. 30.11, and Meni as meaning
“number", the first pointing to the troops of planets and the multitude of
stars as objects of worship, while the second refers to convivial assemblies
connected with idolatrous worship.
The passage is descriptive of idolatrous worship which after all is
the only point of importance.
Ver. 12. "destine you to the sword", —Alexander has well re¬
marked that it is better here to retain the word “number" as in the Author¬
ized Version, instead of "destine", as in our text, because the writer’s idea
is that they shall be cut off one by one, or rather one with another—all
without exception. The same word is used elsewhere for the numbering
of sheep. (Jer. 33.13.) The word thus translated would seem to have
some bearing on the meaning of the word in the preceding verse.
Ver. 13. "ye shall be hungry", —Fausset thinks this may refer to
the destruction of Jerusalem wherein the Jews were so hungry that 1,000,-
000 perished by famine, and that it may refer to a further fulfillment to
take place just before the creation of the new heavens and the new earth,
as the context in verse 1 7 implies.
Ver. 15. "And ye shall leave your name for a curse ",—This means
more than to leave the name to be cursed; it means to leave it as a formula
for cursing, so that men will say, “Jehovah slay thee as He slew them".
The name of the Jew, as Fausset reminds us, has long been a formula of
execration; if one wishes to curse another, he can utter nothing worse than
this: “God make thee what the Jew is."
"my chosen . . . his servants", —The believing remnant.
"another name", —Nagelsbach says, “One name originally united
the wicked and the godly, for they were all called ‘Israelites’. Can the
elect of the Lord still continue to bear the name which, after the judgment
of God, has become cursed? No. The Lord will therefore give to His
servants r another name', and thus is the new covenant, that should come
in the place of the old, intimated."
Some think the meaning is that as your name is to be a name by
which men shall curse, so my servants shall have a name by which men
shall bless. Others merely give it a more general sense as meaning that
their condition shall be altogether different, while still others think that
it relates to the name “Christian" as distinguished from the Jew. Alexan¬
der thinks that the correct explanation is to be found in a combination of
all three views. In Chap. 62.2 of Jehovah’s people it is said that they
shall be given a "new name", and according to Old Testament usage the
promise of "another name" or a "new name" implies a different character
and state.
Ver. 16. so that *, —Whether the particle be so translated with
Luther and others (Na. Del.), or translated “which" (with respect to
which, i. e., by which), as Alexander renders it, it must in either case relate
to the previously expressed antecedent "name", by which the meaning
would seem to be that the servants of Jehovah shall be called or named
133
ISAIAH
after the God of truth, so that His name and theirs shall be identical, and
whoever blesses and swears by the one does so by the other also. (Al.)
Blessing himself means praying for God's blessing, and swearing
means the solemn invocation of God’s presence as a witness.
"the God of truth", —i. e., the God of Amen; of what is true and
firm; the God to whom that quality of covenant-keeping truth essentially
belongs; the God who translates what He promises into Yea and Amen.
1 7 For. behold. I create new heavens
and a new earth; and the former things
shall not be remembered, nor come into
mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice
for ever in that which I create; for, be¬
hold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and
her people a joy. 1 9 And I will rejoice
in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and
there shall be heard in her no more the
voice of weeping and the voice of cry¬
ing. 20 There shall be no more thence
an infant of days, nor an old man that
hath not filled his days; for the child
shall die a hundred years old, and the
sinner being a hundred years old shall
be accursed. 21 And they shall build
houses, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of
them. 2 2 They shall not build, and
another inhabit; they shall not plant,
and another eat; for as the days of a
tree shall be the days of my people, and
my chosen shall ’long enjoy the work of
their hands. 2 3 They shall not labor in
vain, nor bring forth for Calamity; for
they are the seed of the blessed of Jeho¬
vah, and their offspring 3 with them.
24 And it shall come to pass that, before
they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.
’Heb. wear oat
'Or, sudden terror
3 Or, shall be with them
Vers. 1 7-25. The Eternal BLESSING OF THE REMNANT IN THE NEW
Earth and the New Heavens.
Ver. 17. "the former things shall not be remembered" ,—Most in
terpreters refer "former things" to the former troubles of verse 16; others
simply construe it indefinitely as all former troubles. The more natural
explanation, however, is to refer it to the former heaven and earth, as the
simple, more immediate and more exact parallel. (Al. Del.) (See Jer.
3.16.) The former heavens and earth, with all their sorrows under the
fall, shall be so far from recurring that their very remembrance shall be
obliterated by the many mercies which Jehovah will bestow upon the new
heavens and the new earth.
Many expositors understand the reference to be to the renovation of
the present earth with its skies after the destruction which shall occur at
the end-time. (F. Sco. Burnet.)
Scofield says that verse 1 7 looks beyond the kingdom age to the new
heavens and the new earth, but verses 18 to 25 describe the kingdom age
itself.
Alexander says, of course, that it is merely a prediction of entire
change in the existing state of things, the precise nature of the change and
the means by which it is to be brought about forming no part of the reve¬
lation here.
Ver. 18 . "that which I create ", —i. e., the new heavens and the
new earth mentioned in the previous verse, Jerusalem being added for
emphasis. Jerusalem is to be created a rejoicing and her people a joy by
134
ISAIAH
making these things the characteristics of her inner and outward life, her
uniform, constant state.
Ver. 19.— (See Rev. 7.17 and 2.14.) (F. N.)
Ver. 20. "no more thence", —i. e. f from that time forward. Lon¬
gevity of life is here promised as of old.
The particle translated "thence", and properly so, is however never
used in regard to time, but always in regard to place. It refers to the place
where the conditions prophesied are to exist. It does not therefore mean
"from then", or "from that time forward", as Fausset translates it, al¬
though such thought is in keeping with the real meaning of the prediction.
It simply means, "There, in that place, shall be no more an infant of days",
or as Donald Moore puts it, "There shall no suckling thence arise or come
into being who shall live only some days, whose age shall be counted by
days".
"an infant of days", —i. e., an infant who shall live but a few days.
"an old man that hath not filled his days", —i. e., attained unto the
regular measure of human life. None shall die, says Fausset, without
attaining a full old age.
"the child shall die a hundred years old", —i. e., he who in other
days had died as a youth, and whose death was considered premature, shall
not die before his hundredth year. He that dies a hundred years old shall
die a mere child.
"the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed", —This seems
to mean that if a sinner shall die when he is a hundred years old, an age
regarded in those days as mere childhood, it shall be deemed as the effect
of a special visitation of God's wrath.
While the time predicted will be far superior to those of the present,
it will not be perfect, because sin and death will still exist. (Rev. 20.7,8.)
"Longevity is restored, but death, the last enemy", says Scofield, "is not
destroyed till after Satan's rebellion at the end of the thousand years."
"It would be wrong", says Delitzsch, "to think that all this means
less than what is said in Chap. 25.8 only in appearance. There the final
annulling of death is spoken of; here only the limiting of its power."
Nagelsbach thinks the last half of the verse contradicts the first half, for,
says he, "if no one, not even an old man, falls short of the normal measure,
then no one can die as a boy." To this his interpreter, Donald Moore,
replies, "The prophet does not say that no one, not even an old man, falls
short of the normal measure, in the former part of this verse. When one
who dies at the age of a hundred years is counted a boy, and when a sinner
who dies a hundred years old is regarded as prematurely cut off by the
judgment of God, this is no contradiction of the declaration that the suck¬
ling's age will not be reckoned by days, and that old men will fill up the
measure of their days. For the hundred years old sinner will not be
included in the category of old men. If a sinner dies at a hundred he
would be regarded as cursed by God. And if one of a hundred years
should die a natural death (supposing such a case, which from what has
been said cannot really occur), he would be only a boy at his death."
Ver. 22. "as the days of a tree ",—They shall live as long as trees,
oaks, terebinths, palms, cedar, which live for centuries.
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ISAIAH
“shall long enjoy ”,—The word means “enjoy to the full”. The
Hebrew is really “to use up”, “to consume”, “to wear out”, seeming to
imply, as it were, that they shall live to enjoy the last of it.
Ver, 23. “nor bring forth for calamity”, —i. e., that which falls
unexpectedly and carries their offspring, their children away (Del.), not
bring forth children for a sudden death (F.). But Alexander says these
are mere conjectures and that the Hebrew word means “extreme agitation
and alarm” and that the meaning is that they shall not bring forth children
merely to be the subjects of distressing solicitude.
“and their offspring with them ”,—Our text makes their offspring
as well as themselves to be the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, which is of
course true; but the marginal reading is to be preferred, “and their offspring
shall be with them”, i. e., not brought forth only to be cut off by sudden
destruction or calamity.
Ver. 23. The curse seems to remain on the serpent. It will still
creep in the dust, but without injuring man. (See Chap. 11.7.)
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
1 Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my
throne, and the earth is my footstool:
what manner of house will ye build unto
me? and what place shall be my rest?
2 For all these things hath my hand
made, and so all these things came to
be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will
I look, even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my
word. 3 He that killeth an ox is as he
that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a
lamb, as he that breaketh a dog’s neck:
he that offereth *an oblation, as he that
offereth swine’s blood: he that ''burneth
frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol.
Yea, they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delighteth in their abomi¬
nations: 4 I also will choose their “de¬
lusions, and will bring their fears upon
them: because when I called, none did
answer: when I spake, they did not
hear: but they did that which was evil
in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I
delighted not.
5 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that
tremble at his word: Your brethren that
hate you, that cast you out for my
name's sake, have said. Let Jehovah be
glorified, that we may see your joy;
but it is they that shall be put to shame.
6 A voice of tumult from the city, a
voice from the temple, a voice of Jeho¬
vah that rendereth recompense to his
enemies.
3 Or, a meal-offering
*Heb. maketh a memorial of
B Or, mockings
7 Before she travailed, she brought
forth: before her pain came, she was
delivered of a man-child. 8 Who hath
heard such a thing? who hath seen
such things? Shall a land be 4 born in
one day? shall a nation be brought forth
at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. 9 Shall
I bring to the birth, and not cause to
bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that
cause to bring forth shut the womb?
saith thy God.
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and
be glad for her, all ye that love her:
rejoice for joy with her, all ye that
mourn over her; 11 that ye may suck
and be satisfied with the breasts of her
consolations; that ye may milk out, and
be delighted with the abundance of her
glory. 1 2 For thus saith Jehovah, Be¬
hold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the nations like
an overflowing stream: “and ye shall
suck thereof -, ye shall be borne upon the
side, and shall be dandled upon the
knees. 13 As one whom his mother
comforteth, so will I comfort you; and
ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14
And ye shall see it, and your heart shall
rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like
the tender grass: and the hand of Jeho¬
vah shall be known toward his serv¬
ants; and he will have indignation
against his enemies.
*Or, travailed, with for but one day
®Or, then shall ye suck, ye
136
ISAIAH
Vers. 1-14. Exclusion of the Wicked from End-time Blessings.
Ver. 1. “what manner of house will ye build unto me?’’, —Hen-
dewerk, Knobel and Hitzig think that God here forbids the Jews, who
meditated remaining behind in Chaldea, or in Babylon, to build a temple
there, as the Jews did in Egypt at a later time at Leontopolis. But there
is no support whatever in the text for this. The prophet is still describ¬
ing the condition of things to be expected in the time of the end when
there will be a new heaven and a new earth. He is addressing those
about to return from exile, and the “house’ 1 of our text refers doubtless to
the temple which is to take the place of the one destroyed (Chap. 64.9).
He does not interdict them from building this temple (Chap. 44.28; 56.7;
60.7; Ezra 1.2-4; Haggai 1 and 2), but the thought is that the external
temple is at all times a thing of minor importance; that, as Klostermann
says, God does not need a temple at all, nor does He want men to forget
His majesty in petty architecture, even though He promised the prospect
of a rebuilt temple.
Umbreit thinks the reference is to the New Jerusalem in which there
is no temple, as Nagelsbach also remarks, and where God forbids one being
built. But Delitzsch reminds us that according to Chaps. 56 and 60
there is a temple in the New Jerusalem.
Barnes and Alexander both think it refers to the time when the temple
of Herod was being finished.
“what manner”, —This is much to be preferred to “where” of the
Authorized text, since the query seems to have reference in both places to
the nature or the quality rather than the mere locality of the edifice in
question. (F. V. Al. Na. Del.)
Ver. 2. “all these things”, —i. e., heaven and earth, the world of
visible surroundings.
In view of His creative dignity a temple is a small thing to Him, but
His merciful look is directed to the mourners and the broken-hearted and
those who have reverential fear toward His word.
Ver. 3. With each form of sacrifice is coupled an offering which
was inadmissible and revolting. The first sacrifice mentioned counts as
the slaying of a man, the offering of a human victim. The dog in the
east has ever been regarded as unclean and in that light is coupled with the
swine. To offer a dog would be an abomination, and the prophet here
does not even honor this abomination by the use of the word sacrifice, but
uses the degrading term, “breaketh a dog’s neck”, the peculiar mode of
killing a dog. To offer “an oblation”, a meal-offering, counts as the offer¬
ing of swine’s blood, and to burn frankincense counts as blessing an idol.
“blesseth an idol”, —We see no good reason for not retaining the
word “idol”, as does our text (Na. Hit), for certainly this particular mean¬
ing corresponds better to the context than does the general one of wick¬
edness, or vanity (Al. Lut. Del.), and as all other secondary phrases refer
to worship, it is better to understand it so here.
Delitzsch says the chapter starts with an address to the entire body
ready to return from exile, and while not prohibiting the building of a
temple upon their return says that as Creator of heaven and earth Jehovah
needs no house made with men’s hands, and then in verse 3, latter part,
137
ISAIAH
and verse 4 the address distinguishes between the penitent (the godly rem¬
nant) and those alienated from God (the majority) and rejects all wor¬
ship and offering at the hand of the latter and threatens them with just
retribution. Nagelsbach, on the other hand, asks, “Where is it by a
single syllable intimated that verse 3, latter clause, and verse 4 is addressed
solely to those estranged from God? If in Chaps. 5 6 and 60, as Delitzsch
maintains, and in our chapter, verses 6 and 20, a temple and sacrificial
worship is still spoken of, are we to suppose that the old temple of stone,
with its material, bloody offerings, is intended? Even Jeremiah speaks of
a time when the ark of the covenant will be no more thought of (Jer.
3.16). The prophet surveys the whole time of salvation from the time
of the close of the exile to the age to come in one view, and while he sees a
temple and sacrificial worship in this space of time, he declares them both
to be insufficient, and he declares most unambiguously that this temple
must disappear and give place to a better one. And when this shall have
happened, then the prophet sees quite clearly that any animal sacrifice
will be an abomination. He who in the Christian Church would present
any such sacrifice would thus despise the blood of the Lamb of God. I
cannot therefore agree with those who think the passage refers to the man
who with a disposition unholy and estranged from God offers an ox, etc.
In the time present to the mind of the prophet not only the sacrifice of the
ungodly will be a crime, but every sacrifice will be as the offering of a man,
dog or sow to God, a heinous crime.”
The fact remains that if the address pertained to those of Old Testa¬
ment times, even after the return from exile, it must have been made to or
about the ungodly, whose sacrifices God abhors under any circumstances:
but if the address pertains to those of the newer dispensation which the
prophet saw coming the address is applicable to every sacrifice regardless
of the disposition or character of the man who makes it, and in as much
as the prophet seemingly conceives of all of this in one period there is
truth in both of the above views, although the more important aspect of it
rests with Nagelsbach.
Vitringa, and with him agree Alexander and Henderson, applies them
to those who still adhered to the old sacrifices after the great sacrifice for
sin was come and had been offered once for all, i. e., in the new dispen¬
sation.
Gesenius, somewhat after the manner of Delitzsch, thinks they refer
to the practice of iniquity in general, which renders any sacrifice hateful
to Jehovah.
Ver. 4. "I will also choose", —i. e.. in harmony with the law of
retribution.
“their delusions ",—This word answers to “their own ways" of verse
3. God chose these delusions by allowing them in His providence and
causing the people to eat the fruit of them.
"will bring their fears upon them", —i. e., the things they fear.
(F. AI. Na.)
Ver. 5. "ye that tremble at His word ",—The reference here is the
same as in verse 2, to the believing portion of Israel.
"Your brethren that hate you ",—Their own brethren, and what
138
ISAIAH
aggravated the sin still more was that Jehovah’s name was the ground on
which they are hated by them.
Barnes and others (V. Al. Ka.) refer the expression to the Jews who
hated and taunted the Christians during the early part of the Christian
dispensation.
“that cast you out for my name's sake”,—“that cast you out” of
course belongs with what goes before, but Vitringa, Nagelsbach and others
connect “for my names sake” with what follows, but the majority rightly
connect it with what goes before, as in our text, because the Jews would
never admit that an Israelite was ever put out of the community for the
sake of Jehovah’s name. (Al. Del.)
“Let Jehovah be glorified”, —The mocking words of the persecutors,
as if their violence toward you was from zeal for the Lord, i. e., Let Him
be glorified by manifesting Himself in your behalf. They regard the
hope of the believers as a delusion and the words of the prophet as imagi¬
nation.
Ver. 6. Fausset says that as verse 5 refers to the destruction of the
unbelieving Jews, so it is said here that God from Jerusalem and the tem¬
ple shall take vengeance on the hostile Gentiles, the abrupt language of the
verse marking the suddenness with which these foes outside of Jerusalem
shall be put to destruction.
Delitzsch and others (Ab. Na. Al. Bar.), on the other hand, rightly
say that according to the context the enemies here meant are still primarily
the God-estranged and yet arrogant mass of the Israelitish nation. Even
Aben Ezra admits this.
“A voice of tumult from the city ”,—
The rejoicing of the Maccabees and their followers when Antiochus
Epiphanes evacuated the temple. (Gro.)
The preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles beginning at Jerusalem.
(Ju.)
A voice calling for vengeance on the Romans. (Jar.)
The blasphemies of the heathen. (Aba.)
The wail of such wicked Jews who may have gone up to Jerusalem
from the exile in hope of worldly advantage and are smitten with divine
judgments while there. (Ges.)
The voice is a joyful noise and not to be associated with the voice
of Jehovah bringing vengeance (Na.)
All these explanations are opposed by the fact that the Hebrew word
here used is never applied to a joyful cry or a cry of lamentation, but always
to the tumult of war, and the rushing noise of battle.
Kimchi says it is the noise of tumult as applied to the destruction of
Gog and Magog.
Hitzig says it is a description of the general judgment foretold by
Joel (Joel 3.2), when all the nations should be judged at Jerusalem.
Knobel refers it to the confusion of punishment falling upon the
antitheocratic Jews who remained in Babylon and especially upon the
Babylonians themselves.
Vitringa, Henderson and Alexander apply it to the scenes connected
139
ISAIAH
with the destruction of the temple in the days of Herod, the noise being,
not only that of the Romans in taking Jerusalem (V.), but rather the
whole confusion of the siege and conquest. (Al.)
Delitzsch says, "The thunder of judgment goes forth from the tem¬
ple which has risen again, Jehovah's earthly dwelling place, of which He
is again taking possession, followed by the faithful remnant of His people,
and thence He renders recompense to His enemies, the God-estranged and
yet arrogant mass of the exiles." This is by far the most satisfactory
explanation, whatever the passage may further represent by way of typical
significance.
Ver. 7. While the mass falls a prey to judgment, yet Zion is noi
left without children.
“delivered of a mcm-child’’ ,—i. e., a whole land full of people—a
nation. Some take " man-child” merely in the sense of strength and num
bers, Nagelsbach saying that the male-child is used because male-children
are as a rule born harder, being larger, but here it is with apparent ease.
"Contrast this ease of the future Jewish Church", says Fausset, "with
the travail of the Christian Church in bringing forth a man-child (Rev.
1 2.2,5).“
Vitringa and Alexander say the reference is to the call of the Gentiles.
Henderson says the language expresses the sudden and unexpected
reproduction of the Jewish nation in their own land in the latter days.
Ver. 9. The meaning is, Shall I who have begun, not finish my
work of restoring Israel?
Ver. 11. Jerusalem is thought of as a mother, and the rich, real
comfort which she enjoys as the milk filling her breast, and with which
she now richly nourishes her children.
Ver. 12. “the glory of the nations”, —This comprehends all the
desirable things in the way of outward blessings which the Gentiles may
bring to her.
Since “ye” refers in each case to the faithful Jews, Delitzsch thinks
the “sides' and the “knees” refer to the Gentiles, who vie with each other
in showing them delicate attention, and that therefore the pronoun “then ’
should be used in each case instead of the article “the”.
Ver. 14. “shall be known toward”, —i. e., manifested in behalf of.
15 For, behold, Jehovah will come
’with fire, and his chariots shall be like
the whirlwind; to render his anger with
fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of
fire. 16 For by fire will Jehovah exe¬
cute judgment, and by his sword, upon
all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall
be many. 17 They that sanctify them¬
selves and purify themselves ’to go unto
the gardens, behind a one in the midst,
eating swine’s flesh, and the abomina¬
tion, and the mouse, they shall come to
an end together, saith Jehovah.
’Or, in
■’Or, in the
3 Or, one tree (or, Asherah; see Dt. 16.21)
18 For I know their works and their
thoughts: the time cometh, that I will
gather all nations and tongues; and they
shall come, and shall see my glory. 10
And I will set a sign among them, and I
will send such as escape of them unto
the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud.
that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan,
to the isles afar off, that have not heard
my fame, neither have seen my glory;
and they shall declare my glory among
the nations. 20 And they shall bring
all your brethren out of all the nations
140
ISAIAH
for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon
horses, and in chariots, and in litters,
and upon mules, and upon dromedaries,
to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith
Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring
their oblation in a clean vessel into the
house of Jehovah. 21 And of them
also will I take for priests and for
Levites, saith Jehovah.
22 For as the new heavens and the
new earth, which I will make, shall
remain before me, saith Jehovah, so
shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from
one new moon to another, and from one
sabbath to another, shall all flesh come
to worship before me, saith Jehovah.
24 And they shall go forth, and look
upon the dead bodies of the men that
have transgressed against me: for their
worm shall not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched: and they shall be an
abhorring unto all flesh.
Vers. 15-24. A GENERAL PICTURE OF THE TIME OF THE END.
Ver. 15. "with fire”, —Some (Al. Del.) render with the margin,
'in fire"; Lowth reads "as fire", but our text is quite appropriate, the
neaning being the same according to any of the proposed renderings.
‘‘to render his anger with fierceness”, —i. e., to deal out His wrath
with burning (Del.), or to apply His wrath with burning heat (Kn.
3es.)
Ver. 16. ‘‘upon all flesh”, —i. e., upon all who are the objects of
rlis wrath. The judgment here predicted, says Delitzsch, is a general
Dne and falls not only upon the heathen but upon the mass of unbelieving
Jews as well. During this judgment the godly will be hidden away, says
Fausset, referring to I Thess. 4.16,17.
Henderson applies the text also to the battle of Armageddon in Rev.
16 and 19, and Vitringa admits a reference to this also.
Alexander of course applies the judgment here mentioned to the
destruction of Jerusalem under the Romans, and says the Apocalyptic
prophecies borrow their images from the Old Testament prophecies, but
ire not exegetical of them.
Ver. 1 7. This verse refers to idolators whoever they may be and
ire the same persons doubtless as those in Chap. 65.3,5.
‘‘to go unto the garden”, —The idea is not that they purified them-
elves in the gardens, but on their way to the gardens, or in preparation
or the gardens where idolatrous services were to be held.
"behind one in the midst”, —The literal is " one one in the midst ”.
Jesenius reads, "following one in the midst",—i. e., a priest who led the
est in performing the sacred rites, and led the idolatrous procession through
he garden.
Maurer reads, "following one in the midst", i. e., some idol or other,
which out of contempt he does not mention. Vitringa says the word,
wice mentioned in the text, is the name of a Syrian idol called Adad, the
iteral meaning of which is "one", and with him agree Bochart and other
earned men of early date.
On the ground that the word "priest" is to be supplied, then the word
which means ‘‘in the midst” means in the midst of the crowd—the priest
vho prescribes the rites stands in their midst and they follow him.
On the ground either that the word means "idol", or that the word
'idol" is to be supplied, the identity of which idol no one can know, the
141
ISAIAH
word which means “in the midst” must refer to the garden—the idol in
the midst of the garden.
Of the two explanations the former is by far the better. (Kn. Um.
Na. Ro. Hit. Del. Ges. Baud. Hend. Beck. Pfeifer, Seinecke.)
Some supply the word “tree” (Bo.) and think of one of the trees
behind which they perform their lustrations; while others supply the
word “pool” (Kim.) in which the lustrations are made.
All the things mentioned in the following words were forbidden to
the Jew.
Ver. 18. “and they shall come”, —They will be impelled with
enmity against Jerusalem and they shall come, but not without Jehovah’s
superintendence who makes even evil subservient to His plan.
“shall see my glory”, —Not His glory as manifested in grace (S. Um.
Ew. Hahn), but in judgment. (F. Al. Del.)
“I will gather all nations”, —This includes the apostates of Israel,
but it is evident from what follows in the next verse that the nations assem¬
bled against Jerusalem and perishing themselves in the enterprise are not
to be taken as all nations without exception, because in the following verse
many nations are mentioned by name who are situated outside the range
of these great events.
Fausset says these nations shall gather together against Jerusalem,
where the ungodly Jews shall perish, the apostate Jews, and then the Lord
at last shall figttt against those nations for Jerusalem’s sake. He then
says the survivors shall see Jehovah’s glory. But why confine this to the
survivors? Why is it not true of all present?
Alexander thinks this is a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles,
both to witness the destruction of the apostate Jews and to supply their
place in His Church or chosen people. He bases this much upon the fact,
as he thinks, that the crimes described in the foregoing verses are those
of the apostate Jews and not those of the heathen. But surely this learned
expositor is wrong as to this latter proposition.
Ver. 19. The tidings of Jehovah are to be carried to the far-off
heathen world. Fausset says, Tarshish is Tartessus in Spain in the west;
Pul is East Africa and North Africa; Lud is the Lybians of Africa, famous
as bowmen; Tubal refers to the Tibarennians in Asia Minor south of the
Caucasus, and Java is the Greeks. The reference seems to be to the entire
heathen world, and the prophet mentions only the farthest removed to inti¬
mate that to all—to the most remote—the joyful message should come.”
“And I will set a sign among them”, —The judgment is that which
falls primarily upon the heathen, those mentioned in verse 1 7, to whom
the “them” of this phrase refers, and they are primarily the ones mentioned
also in verse 18 as being gathered, together with the apostate Jews.
Now most writers are agreed with Gesenius that the “sign” is to be
taken in the same sense as that in Ex. 10.1,2, where God is said twice to
have placed his signs among the Egyptians, and as these signs were the
miraculous plagues, so here the reference must be to some miracle God will
work in the midst of those gathered to judgment.
Calvin explains, “I make a sign on them”, i. e., on the elect for their
deliverance. But the sign is given to those who are judged and not to
those who are saved.
142
ISAIAH
Alexander says the sign is the whole display of miraculous power in
the beginning of the new dispensation which the Apostles had bestowed
upon them. But if there were no other objection to this interpretation it
is exposed to the one just mentioned.
Fausset says it is "A banner on a high place to indicate the place of
meeting for the dispersed Jewish exiles preparatory to their return to their
own land"; while Gesenius thinks it is the extraordinary confluence itself
of the Jews from all parts of the world. But these, too, are open to the
objection just mentioned, and besides they commit themselves to the
rather unfortunate arrangement of the verses proposed by Alexander where¬
by in point of time verse 19 is prior to verse 18, inasmuch as it is by the
sign that the nations mentioned in verse 1 8 are gathered together at Jeru¬
salem. Hitzig and Knobel consider the sign to be the dreadful miracle
of the battle in which Jehovah fights against His enemies with fire and
sword and inflicts His judgment upon them in their terrific slaughter.
Delitzsch, however, says that if they were to witness the judicial glory
of Jehovah, as verse 18 distinctly declares they shall, then if they were
to have a sign set on them in that retributive sense it would be more approp¬
riate for the words, "/ will set a sign on them " to precede than to fol¬
low the words, "they shall see my glory". The sign, therefore, he
thinks, consists in the sparing of the remnant—the unexpected, surprising
:ircumstance, considering the great slaughter, that a remnant is spared.
(Del. Um. Ew. Seinecke.) But Nagelsbach asks, "Is it something so
extraordinary and wonderful that individuals should escape from a slaugh¬
ter, be it every so bloody?"
Stier refers the sign to the judgment upon apostate Israel. Nagels¬
bach says, however, that it seems strange to speak of the sign after the
judgment has occurred and they have seen the glory of Jehovah. If, how¬
ever, we place verse 19 after verse 18 in point of time, as do Alexander
and the translator of Nagelsbach, and make verse 19, sign and all, the
method by which the nations of verse 18 are gathered, the difficulty in
Magelsbach’s mind must disappear.
It would be manifestly absurd to think of the nations in verse 18
being called to their own judgment in which they were to see the glory
Df God and then at the same time think of "those that escape " from this
judgment going out to gather or call these same nations in. The only
way therefore to consistently bring verse 19 in before verse 18 as to time
s to think of those in verse 1 7 being apostate Jews who are to be judged,
ind after the judgment upon them had fallen, those that escape of them
ire to go out to the Gentiles of verse 18 and gather them in, not for judg¬
ment, but for mercy, to take the place of the apostate Jews, and this going
Dut to them, as Alexander says, is the sign—the Gospel being preached to
:hem.
Alexander in his exegesis of verse 18 says the Gentiles were brought
in to witness the vengeance of God upon the Jews as well as to take their
place. But this, of course, according to his own explanation could not be,
because there would then as yet have been no remnant, none of "those
• hat escape " to go out and gather the Gentiles in, as Alexander says they
do, because there is no remnant until after the judgment on the apostate
Jews has taken place, for the remnant is what is left out of that judgment.
Dur author must therefore eliminate the idea of the Gentiles being gath¬
ered in to witness the judgment in order to be consistent with himself.
143
ISAIAH
However, this disarrangement of the flow of thought does not appeal
to us, and there are reasons other than contextual why those mentioned in
verse 1 7 can hardly refer to the apostate Jews, in as much as they were
never guilty after the exile of the abominations mentioned in the verse.
It is impossible to tell what the sign is; the best is but conjecture.
The translator of Nagelsbach thinks it refers to the Messiah, and Nagels-
bach himself comes to pretty much the same conclusion.
We are now prepared to say that even though the sign is apparently
placed among those upon whom the judgment falls, it does not at all fol¬
low that the sign is upon them in the sense that that retribution is to fall
upon them. Any sign that could be given could be said with propriety to
be “among them”, whether by “them” is meant those upon whom the
judgment falls, or those who escape, or both, which is perhaps the better
idea, although the close connection would seem to refer the first “them'’
of verse 19 to those mentioned in verse 18.
Of all the explanations given that of Delitzsch seems to be less open
to serious objection.
“such as escape of them”, —i. e., from the judgment previously men
tioned. Alexander says these are the survivors of the Jewish nation upon
the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, the elect for whose sake the days
were shortened when all besides them perished. These were the first
preachers of the Gospel.
Nagelsbach agrees with Alexander and says the destruction of Jeru¬
salem by the Romans was the first act in the judgment to which reference
is made in the verses before us; because it could not, he says, be the general
judgment to which reference is made, because after that there will be no
nations to go to.
Henderson, on the other hand, says that any reference to the Jews
here is "violent", and that those intended are the Gentiles who shall have
been present at, but have not perished in the judgment of the great over¬
throw in Palestine, and who go as missionaries to all parts of the world.
Fausset also says they are the Gentile survivors spared by God. He
maintains that other Old Testament passages (Isa. 2.2,3; Micah 5.7:
Zech. 14.16-19) represent, not the Jews going as missionaries to the Gen¬
tiles, but that the Gentiles come up to Jerusalem to learn the ways of the
Lord there.
Ver. 20. “they” ,—Not the messengers of verse 19, who bring back
converts to the true religion. These come by faith and not by litters and
mules and dromedaries, and besides “such as escape” from the judgment
could hardly have furnished all the expense attached to the process men¬
tioned in this verse. Furthermore the “they" mentioned here is evi¬
dently regarded as different from the Israelites who are mentioned in the
last part of the verse.
The reference is doubtless to the Gentiles mentioned in verse 19 (F.
Na. Del.).
“your brethren”, —This doubtless refers not to Gentiles (V. Al. Uni.
Ew. Ges.), but to the Jews (F. He. Ma. Kn. Na. and his translator, Hit.
Hend.)
Ver. 21. “And of them also will I take”, —i. e., of the Gentiles.
144
ISAIAH
(F. Um. Ew. Ma. Ges. Del. Ros.) It refers to an abrogation of the
ancient national distinction. (Compare these same authorities under Chap.
61.5,6.)
Kimchi resolves the sentence or its meaning into, “I will take of them,
i. e., of the Gentiles, for the priests and Levites, as drawers of water and
hewers of wood, etc."
Hitzig, Knobel and Cheyne refer it to the scattered Jews, who will
be brought home. But why should being scattered deprive one of being a
priest if he was of the tribe of Levi?
The reference is of course to the enjoyment of direct access to God
which was formerly enjoyed by the ministers of the temple alone. Vit-
ringa refers it to the Christian ministry, to which Gentiles as well as Jews
were admitted. He says the words, "I will take of them ", implies selec¬
tion of some kind from among the mass and so it is not to be allowed to
all believers. His criticism is not, however, well sustained. Since all the
priests were Levites, the two may have been mentioned here merely with
a view to identify the two classes, both names being given lest either should
appear to be excluded.
"bring their oblation", —This bringing of the Jews by the Gentiles
will be regarded by God as a precious, unbloody offering which the Gen¬
tiles offer unto Him.
Ver.* 22. This refers to the entire preceding promise including verse
21. The name and seed of Israel, that is, Israel as a nation with the same
ancestors and an independent name, is to remain forever.
Delitzsch says, "The prophet thus represents to himself the Church
of the future on a new earth and under a new heavens, but he is unable
to represent the eternal in the form of eternity; he represents it to himself
as an unending continuation of temporal history.
Ver. 23. "from one Sabbath to another", —The Sabbath is there¬
fore to be perpetually obligatory on earth.
"before me", —i. e., at Jerusalem, as the next verse certainly shows.
The Jewish writers all say that the scene is laid in Jerusalem and the Sep-
tuagint actually has the name of Jerusalem inserted in this verse.
Henderson remarks that, "it is absolutely impossible that all should
assemble at Jerusalem", but as the scene of the next verse is laid in the
environs of Jerusalem, he seems to think the two verses are tantamount to
saying that everywhere, all over the world, people will assemble for wor¬
ship and go out to the environs of Jerusalem and see, etc.
Why may it not be that the nations could be there through their
representatives?
Nagelsbach says, "It would have been impossible for the inhabitants
of the circumscribed Palestine to have come up to Jerusalem once a month,
but in the new conditions in that far off future of the new heavens and the
new earth this will be possible for all flesh."
Alexander says the verse is merely a prediction of the general diffusion
of the true religion with its stated observances and religious forms, and
that the prophet, in accordance with his constant practice, speaks of the
emancipated Church in language borrowed from the state of bondage.
145
JEREMIAH
Vcr. 24. " they ",—i. e. f all flesh.
“go forth* 1 , —i. e., to the environs of Jerusalem. South of Jerusa¬
lem is the valley of Hinnon where a perpetual fire was kept to burn the
refuse thrown there.
“look upon the dead bodies*, etc .,—The word denotes a qualified
seeing, i. e., with pleasure, or interest, or satisfaction, or horror, as the
case may be. Here it is with horror, says the translator of Nagelsbach.
Fausset says it is with satisfaction, and this he says is not inconsistent with
true love for them to thus look with satisfaction upon what God has done
to the wicked.
“the dead bodies', i. e., of these slain by the Lord in that time of
great judgment.
The neighborhood of Jerusalem becomes the scene of God’s retribu¬
tive judgment as predicted in verse 18.
Says Delitzsch, "Whereas we are forced to transfer what is set forth
in verse 23, in accordance with Zech. 14.16, to the yet unglorified earth
of those days; the last part of verse 24, on the other hand, looks like
eternal punishment raised above the conditions of temporality. The
prophet blends temporal and eternal. This world and the next coalesce to
his view; the new creating of the heavens and the earth does not in his view
go beyond the horizon of the present life; for the separation of what lies
on this side of the gulf of the ‘regeneration’ and what lies beyond it we
must look to the New Testament. The latter knows of a new setting up
of the present Jerusalem after "the times of the Gentiles" have run their
course, and of a glorious temporal restoration of Israel; but it knows also
of a worm that dies not and of a fire that is never quenched beyond the
history of time."
THE BOOK OF
JEREMIAH
(B. C. 629—B. C. 588)
CHAPTER THREE
14 Return, O backsliding children,
saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto
you: and I will take you one of a city,
and two of a family, and I will bring
you to Zion. 15 And I will give you
shepherds according to my heart, who
shall feed you with knowledge and un¬
derstanding. 16 And it shall come to
pass, when ye are multiplied and in¬
creased in the land, in those days, saith
Jehovah, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of Jehovah; neither
shall it come to mind; neither shall they
remember it: neither shall they ‘miss it;
neither S shall it be made any more. 1 7
At that time they shall call Jerusalem
the throne of Jehovah; and all the na¬
tions shall be gathered unto it, to the
name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem; neither
shall they walk any more after the stub¬
bornness of their evil heart. 18 In those
days the house of Judah shall walk 'with
the house of Israel, and they shall come
together out of the land of the north
to the land that I gave for an inheritance
unto your fathers.
‘Or, visit
J Or, shall that be done
•Or, to
146
JEREMIAH
Vers. 14-18. Promise of Final Restoration and Blessing to the
Jews.
Ver. 14. There is no doubt that this verse as well as the whole
passage contains an allusion to the final period.
"o ne of a city and two of a family”, —Though there be but one or
two Israelites in a foreign city they shall not be forgotten. All shall be
restored. (F. Na. He. Noy. Kim. Ros.) There is another view which
explains, "and even if so few fulfill the conditions of true reform". (Ei.
Ew. Graf.) But this would seem to be a definite statement that only a
few would return, and the other explanation is much to be preferred.
The expressions "c/ft/" and ”tribe” intimate quite plainly that the
rities and tribes of the heathen are in view.
Ver. 15. "pastors”, —Older commentators understand by these
pastors, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra and later the Apostles and their suc-
ressors, and this is of course the case unless we see in the return under
Zerubbabel, and in the Christian Church only the beginnings of the ful¬
fillment of this promise, all of which will depend upon the view to be
taken of the prophecy as a whole.
Ver. 16. " when ye be multiplied”, —The Israel of the future is first
to become numerous in order to become fitted for the concluding and per¬
fected revelation of the kingdom.
"The ark of the covenant”, —This will be no more mentioned be-
tause the thing itself and every thought of it will have disappeared.
i
Ver. 17. " Jerusalem the throne of the Lord”, —What the ark had
:>een to Jerusalem, Jerusalem is now to be in relation to all the nations.
fUl Jerusalem is then to be the throne of the Lord. On the one hand this
'eminds us of Micah 4 but on the other of Rev. 21.
"all the nations”, —So also is it in Revelation 21.
Ver. 18. Two distinct apostacies, that of Judah and that of Israel,
vere foretold (verses 8 and 10). There has been of course a developing
ulfillment of this prophecy of reunion of the two tribes of Israel in
spiritual Israel as God gathers one convert here and another there into His
Ihurch, but so far as the nation is concerned the two sections of it have
lever been united since the Babylonish captivity. The ten tribes are
mknown to the present day and the prophet, gaze into the inconceivably
listant future as he will, can see no restoration of these tribes. Nagelsbach
eminds us that this prophecy was not fulfilled by the return under Zerub-
>abel and Ezra, because (a) not even the whole of Judah, to say nothing
)f the whole of Israel, then returned, and (b) not even Judah, to say
lothing of the heathen, had then returned to the Lord. He also reminds
is that it was not fulfilled by the founding of the Christian Church, be-
:ause (a) the reunion of Judah and Israel has not yet taken place, the
atter being unknown as to their whereabouts, (b) Israel in general has
ejected the Lord and refused to enter the Christian Church, and (c) the
leathen have not begun to come to the Lord and to the Jerusalem that is
tbove in any such measure as prophesied. It would seem therefore that
ve must still wait for the complete fulfillment of this prophecy, and that
t must be reserved for the final period to bring back the lost tribes of
147
JEREMIAH
Israel to the light of salvation, and to effect their restoration together with
the tribes of Judah, if a literal as well as a spiritual fulfillment of this
prophecy is to be looked for. (Isa. 11.12,13; Ezek. 37.16-22; Hos.
1 . 11 .)
The prophesied coming together in verse 18 of Judah and Israel
seems to be the performance of the command given to them in verse 14.
CHAPTER TWELVE
14 Thus saith Jehovah against all
mine evil neighbors, that touch the in¬
heritance which I have caused my people
Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck
them up from off their land, and will
pluck up the house of Judah from
among them. 1 5 And it shall come to
pass, after that I have plucked them up,
I will return and have compassion on
them; and I will bring them again, every
man to his heritage, and every man to
his land. 1 6 And it shall come to pass,
if they will diligently learn the ways of
my people, to swear by my name. As
Jehovah liveth; even as they taught my
people to swear by Baal; then shall
they be built up in the midst of my
people. 17 But if they will not hear,
then will I pluck up that nation, pluck¬
ing up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.
Vers. 14-17. OBEDIENCE REWARDED BY FINAL UNION IN JEHOVAH.
Ver. 14. “evil neighbors”, —This expression refers to the Gentile
nations, the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines and Assyrians,
nations that were always endeavoring to assault Israel. These nations,
as well as Israel, were carried away into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.
'7 will pluck them up from off their land ",—The pronoun in this
sentence points of course to these heathen nations and the expression is
prophetic of their being carried away into exile.
"pluck up the house of Judah from among them”, —Keil and Nagels-
bach, with most commentators, take this in an evil sense also as referring
to the carrying away of Judah into captivity, contending, as they do, that
the same word ”pluck” cannot occur in the two corresponding clauses in
two different senses. Judah and her neighboring nations, they say, will
share the same fate, Judah directly and her neighbors indirectly, because
what they did against Judah was done against Judah's God. The carry¬
ing away of Judah, they say, involves her liberation from the attacks of
her neighbors. Calvin, Fausset and others, however, take the word
“pluck” in a favorable sense and say it refers to the Jews who had fled to
these nations and were being oppressed by them, the forcible word “ pluck”
being used because the heathen would never willingly give them up. This
latter is perhaps the better explanation, there being little force in the objec¬
tion raised by the other authorities quoted.
Fausset would have us believe that God is here speaking consolation
to the elect remnant among the Jews.
The “them” of verse 15 refers to the evil neighbors of verse 14.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
14 Therefore, behold, the days come,
sarth Jehovah, that it shall no more be
said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up
the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt; 15 but. As Jehovah liveth, that
brought up the children of Israel from
the land of the north, and from all the
countries whither he had driven them.
And I will bring them again into their
land that I gave unto their fathers.
148
JEREMIAH
Vers. 14,15. Consolatory Promise of Future Restoration
“from the land of the north ",—It was from the north that the Chal¬
deans came, and the primary reference is of course here to the restoration
from captivity in Babylon.
"from all the countries ',—Israel was not, save in a very limited sense,
gathered from all the countries at the time of the return from Babylon,
and while this return is doubtless the one primarily meant, it is perhaps
true, as Fausset would have us believe, that “the return hereafter is the full
and final accomplishment contemplated."
Campbell Morgan makes here the following interesting remarks, “The
restoration is now compared with the deliverance out of Egypt and the
assertion is made that marvelous as that exodus was, this final work of
God for Israel will so transcend it in majestic power that 'it shall no more
be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt'. Here again I must ask you to note that the restoration
is from a world-wide dispersion and that the ‘land' is identified beyond
peradventure as ‘their land that I gave unto their fathers'—not the United
States, not England, nor any land where the Jews may have temporary
peace and prosperity, but Palestine. It is impossible to seriously pretend
that this prediction has been fulfilled in any sense. Who, for example,
ever referred to the return to Palestine under sufferance of a heathen king
of less than fifty thousand men of Judah as an event so supremely wonder¬
ful as to efface by its greater splendor the amazing events of the exodus.
The same comparison is repeated in Chap. 23.7,8."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
1 Woe unto the shepherds that de¬
stroy and scatter the sheep of my pas¬
ture! saith Jehovah. 2 Therefore thus
saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against
the shepherds that feed my people: Ye
have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them; be¬
hold, I will visit upon you the evil of
your doings, saith Jehovah. 3 And I
will gather the remnant of my flock out
of all the countries whither I have
driven them, and will bring them again
to their folds: and they shall be fruitful
and multiply. 4 And I will set up shep¬
herds over them, who shall feed them:
and they shall fear no more, nor be dis¬
mayed. neither shall any be lacking,
saith Jehovah.
5 Behold, the days come, saith Je¬
hovah, that I will raise unto David a
righteous ‘Branch, and he shall reign as
king and 'deal wisely, and shall execute
justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and
Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his
name whereby he shall be called: 3 Jeho-
vah our righteousness. 7 Therefore,
behold, the days come, saith Jehovah,
that they shall no more say, As Jehovah
liveth, who brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 but.
As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and
who led the seed of the house of Israel
out of the north country, and from all
the countries whither I had driven them.
And they shall dwell in their own land.
*Or, Shoot Or, Bud
2 Or, frosfer
3 0r, Jehovah is our righteousness
Vers. 1-8. The Future Restoration and Conversion of Israel.
Israel, or the Ten Lost Tribes, were carried away captive into Assyria
in B. C. 725. Their captivity was complete in number and time and to
149
JEREMIAH
this day they have not returned. Judah was carried away captive into
Babylon in B. C. 588. It was partial in number and time. They re
turned and remained until finally scattered about A. D. 70.
The shepherds mentioned in verses 1 and 2 are the ungodly monarchs
on the throne of David who brought ruin to the kingdom and scattered
Israel.
Ver. 3. In this and the following verses the restoration from Baby¬
lon is foretold in language which, Fausset and many others say, in its
fullness can only apply to the final restoration of both Judah and Israel as
set forth in verse 6.
"ouf of all countries",—As remarked in Chap. 16.15 Israel was
not, save in a very limited sense, gathered out of all countries when they
were brought back from Babylon (see also verse 8).
Ver. 4. " neither shall any be lacking", —i. e., none shall be miss¬
ing or detached from the rest. Neither these words nor those immediately
preceding them, “they shall fear no more ", have ever yet been fully ful¬
filled.
Scofield says, "The restoration here foretold is not to be confounded
with the return of the feeble remnant of Judah under Ezra, Nehemiah and
Zerubbabel at the end of the seventy years (Jer. 29.10). At His first
advent Christ, David's righteous Branch, did not ‘execute justice and
judgment in the earth', but was crowned with thorns and crucified. Neither
was Israel the nation restored, nor did the Jewish people say, ‘The Lord
our Righteousness'. The prophecy is yet to be fulfilled."
Ver. 5. “Behold the days come ",—The phrase does not indicate
any progress in time as compared with what precedes.
“righteous", —He would be righteous in distinction from the un¬
righteous rulers before Him who were brought into view in the previous
chapter. Fausset calls attention to the fact that in the New Testament
He is set forth not only as righteous Himself, but as righteousness to us.
so that we become the righteousness of God in Him. (Romans 10.3,4;
II. Cor. 5.19-21.) This, however, has nothing to do with our passage.
“unto David", —In fulfillment of the promise made to him. (I Chron.
17.12; II Sam. 7.12.)
“Branch", —Not precisely a limb of the tree but a shoot or sprout,
which springing up from the root becomes itself the tree. This word, as
a rule, has the collective sense, but not necessarily so. It has this sense
when used of a plant of the field but this sense does not necessarily obtain
when used in its spiritual signification.
Graf tries to show that the word is to be taken in its collective sense
here but against this are the following facts:
1. Zech. 3.8 calls this same branch a man whose name is Branch.
2. Ezek. 34.23 says, ‘‘And I will set ONE Shepherd over them."
3. The Jews expected ONE great King.
4. Our verse says he shall reign as “king" and verse 6 says he shall
be called "oar righteousness ", and these things cannot tje said of a series
of kings.
Chap, 33,17 does not prove that the branch of David is a collective
150
JEREMIAH
grouping together of all David's future posterity, but only that this one
Branch of David shall possess the throne forever.
Some think that '' branch” contradicts “shepherds', the one being
singular and the other plural, and they explain by rendering, “I will raise
up shepherds, then the Messiah; or better shepherds, the chief of whom
will be the Messiah." But the two promises are not to be joined. First
we have the raising up of good shepherds in contrast to the evil shepherds
that have destroyed the flock, the people; then the promise, says Keil, is
further explained to the effect that these good shepherds shall be raised
up to David in the “righteous branch ", that is, in the promised seed of his
sons. The good shepherds are summed up in the person of the Messiah,
as being comprised therein. In the one Branch of David the people shall
have given unto them all the good shepherds needed for their deliverance.
Hengstenberg takes shepherds in a generic sense, a generic plural, which
does not exclude the possibility of one shepherd being intended. But this
will not do in as much as Jeremiah elsewhere presents the prospect of a
multiplicity of rulers of the seed of David for the time of the great restora¬
tion. (See Chap. 33.17,18,22,26.)
Ver. 6. Says Fausset, "So far are the Jews as yet from having en¬
joyed the temporal blessings here foretold as the result of the Messiah's
reign, that their lot has been for eighteen centuries worse than ever before.
The accomplishment must therefore still be future."
“he shall be called Jehovah our righteousness' ,—Nagelsbach says
this refers not to the Branch but to the people Israel, and he appeals to
Chap. 33.16 for proof of his opinion. But this passage does not prove
his case by any means, although of course grammatically he can support his
decision. It is, however, much better with others to take it as referring
to " Branch ", the Messiah. (K. F. Hit. Cow.)
It is hardly sound exegesis to take this expression as a proof of the
divinity of Christ, or in the sense that His righteousness becomes ours by
substitution or that we are justified in Him through the forgiveness of
sins, as did the old commentators. Chap. 33.16, where the same ex¬
pression is used of Jerusalem, the people, ought to make this plain. The
expression is here, as elsewhere, the abbreviation of a sentence and means,
"He by whom Jehovah deals righteousness", i. e., makes the people right¬
eous in contrast to what other shepherds had done, and with this Chap.
33.16 corresponds well.
Vers. 7,8. (See Chap. 16.14,15.)
Of course there are those also who give a figurative or spiritual inter¬
pretation to the whole passage, maintaining that the reference in verse 3
is to the great ingathering of the Christian period and to the pastoral work
of the Messiah as set forth in verses 5 to 8. The whole is, says Cowles,
a magnificent picture of the Messiah s reign, and the reference in verse 6
is to the kingdom of the Messiah as enlarged by the accession of the Gen¬
tiles through the work of the Holy Spirit, the true Israel according to Gal.
6.16. There is no question as to the spiritual interpretation being pos¬
sible; the question is as to whether these prophecies can be taken in a literal
sense. If they can, they ought so to be taken.
151
JEREMIAH
20 The anger of Jehovah shall not heart; in the latter days ye shall under-
return, until he have executed, and till stand it perfectly,
he have performed the intents of his
Ver. 20. Jehovah's Unalterable Purpose as to Israel and Her
Enemies.
"in the latter days ",—This expression refers of course primarily to
the days of their Babylonish captivity, but if there is an ultimate scope to
the prophecy, as many would have us believe, it is that which points to
the Jews in their final dispersion, who shall at last consider their sin and
turn to the Messiah. (Hos. 3.5.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
4 And the word of Jehovah came
unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith Jehovah,
the God of Israel: Like these good figs,
so will I regard the captives of Judah,
whom I have sent out of this place into
the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them
for good, and I will bring them again
to this land: and I will build them,
and not pull them down; and I will
plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them a heart to know
me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall
be my people, and I will be their God;
for they shall return unto me with their
whole heart.
Vers. 4-7. The Promise of Restoration and Conversion or
Israel.
The good figs represent the better classes taken away to Babylon.
God sifted the nation and saved the more precious grain for replanting
in the land after captivity. When Cyrus told them they could go back,
the best men, the men of faith, would more quickly respond. While the
primary reference is to the chastening effect of the Babylonish captivity,
the language in its fullness, Fausset and others would have us believe,
applies to the more complete conversion hereafter of the Jews "with their
whole heart" (verse 7) through the painful discipline of the present dis¬
persion.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
This chapter is devoted to the prophecy of the Seventy Years Cap¬
tivity. In verse 5 the prophet r 2 minds the people that the land had been
promised to them and to their fathers for ever and ever, but because of
their disobedience (verse 7) they were to be carried into the land of the
north and there serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. This is one
of the clearest and most definite of Jeremiah’s predictions; but his predic¬
tion of the deliverance which Jehovah was to work out for His people is
just as clear and just as definite. At the end of the seventy years redemp
tion was to come to the holy nation along with judgment upon Babylon
(verse 12) and all the kingdoms of the then known world (verses T9-26),
including Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (verse 18).
The seventy years of captivity may be reckoned to begin with the
first deportation of Judah to Babylon (B. C. 606), or with the final
deportation (B. C. 588).
152
JEREMIAH
29 For, lo, I begin to work evil at Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will
the city which is called by my name; call for a sword upon all the inhabi-
and should ye be utterly unpunished? tants of the earth.
Ver. 29. If Jehovah does not spare His own city (verse 18) should
the Gentile nations imagine that there is no judgment for them?
“all the inhabitants of the earth’’, —“The scope of this great proph¬
ecy", says Scofield, “cannot be limited to the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar.
The prophecy leaps to the very end of this age. (See 'Day of the Lord',
Isa. 2.10-22; Rev. 19.11-21; 'Armageddon', Rev. 16.14; 19.11-21.)“
While in what follows verse 25 no nation is mentioned by name the
limits of the territory to be reached by the judgment are strictly defined
by the words, “ all the inhabitants of the earth’’ (verses 29,30), “ all
flesh’’ (verse 31), and “ from one end of the earth even unto the other end
of the earth’’, and from this it would seem to follow that the prophet here
beholds the judicial act of God in its last and highest stage.
“He now describes", says Nagelsbach, “the world-judgment, i. e.,
the judgment of all nations of the earth absolutely without regard to their
greater or lesser importance. The storm rolls from nation to nation until
the whole surface of the earth is covered with the slain. There is no pos¬
sibility of escaping the day of slaughter though they howl and wallow as
it breaks upon them (verses 34,35)."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
12 And ye shall call upon me, and
ye shall go and pray unto me, and I
will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me.
when ye shall search for me with all
your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith
Jehovah, and I will ‘turn again your
captivity, and I will gather you from
all the nations, and from all the places
whither I have driven you, saith Jeho¬
vah; and I will bring you again unto
the place whence I caused you to be
carried away captive.
J Or, return to
Vers. 12-14. Israel To Be Regathered To Her Original Inheri
tance.
There are those who would have us believe that there is here in verses
12 and 13 a brief renewal of the promise of Deut. 4.29,30, and in verse 14
a brief summary of the promise in Deut. 30.3-5. Notice the similarity
of language. There can be no doubt, however, that the promise here looks
primarily and specially, as seen by verse 10, to the times of Cyrus and
Zerubbabel.
CHAPTER THIRTY
1 The word that came to Jeremiah
from Jehovah, saying, 2 Thus speaketh
Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying,
Write thee all the words that I have
spoken unto thee in a book. 3 For, lo,
the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will
’turn again the captivity of my people
Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and
’Or, return to
I will cause them to return to the land
that I gave to their fathers, and they
shall possess it.
4 And these are the words that
Jehovah spake concerning Israel and
concerning Judah. 5 For thus saith
Jehovah: We have heard a voice of
trembling, 2 of fear, and not of peace.
2 Or, there is fear, and no fence
153
JEREMIAH
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man
doth travail with child: wherefore do I
see every man with his hands on his
loins, as a woman in travail, and all
faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas I
for that day is great, so that none is like
it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble:
but he shall be saved out of it. 8 And
it shall come to pass in that day, saith
Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his
yoke from off thy neck, and will burst
thy bonds; and strangers shall no more
make him their bondman; 9 but they
shall serve Jehovah their God, and
David their king, whom I will raise up
unto them. 10 Therefore fear thou
riot, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah;
neither be dismayed, O Israel: for. lo.
I will save thee from afar, and thy seed
from the land of their captivity; and
Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet
and at ease, and none shall make him
afraid. 1 1 For I am with thee, saith
Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a
full end of all the nations whither 1
have scattered thee, but I will not make
a full end of thee; but I will correct
thee in ‘measure, and will in no wise
4 leave thee unpunished.
12 For thus saith Jehovah. Thy hurt
is incurable, and thy wound grievous.
13 There is none to plead “thy cause,
°that thou mayest be bound up: thou
hast no healing medicines. 14 All thy
lovers have forgotten thee; they seek
thee not: for I have wounded thee with
the wound of an enemy, with the chas¬
tisement of a cruel one, for the great¬
ness of thine iniquity, because thy sins
were increased. 15 Why criest thou “for
thy hurt? thy pain is incurable: for the
greatness of thine iniquity, because thy
3 Heb. judgment
*Or, hold thee guiltless
“Or, thy cause; for thy wound thou hast no
medicines nor plaster
8 Heb. for closing up, or pressing.
7 Or, multitude
8 ®r, for thy hurt, decause thy pain is incur¬
able T
sins were increased, I have done these
things unto thee. 1 6 Therefore all they
that devour thee shall be devoured; and
all thine adversaries, every one of them,
shall go into captivity; and they, that
despoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that
prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17 For I will restore health unto thee,
and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith
Jehovah: because they have called thee
an outcast, saying. It is Zion, whom no
man 9 seeketh after.
18 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I
will 10 turn again the captivity of Jacob’s
tents, and have compassion on his
dwelling-places; and the city shall be
builded upon its own “hill, and tTie
palace shall 1? be inhabited after its own
manner. 19 And out of them shall
proceed thanksgiving and the voice of
them that make merry: and I will mul¬
tiply them, and they shall not be few:
I will also glorify them, and they shall
not be small. 20 Their children also
shall be as aforetime, and their congre¬
gation shall be established before me;
and I will punish all that oppress them.
21 And their prince shall be of them¬
selves, and their ruler shall proceed from
the midst of them; and I will cause him
to draw near, and he shall approach
unto me: for who is he that “hath had
boldness to approach unto me? saith
Jehovah. 22 And ye shall be my peo¬
ple, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the tempest of Jehovah.
even his wrath, is gone forth, a “sweep¬
ing tempest: it shall burst upon the head
of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of
Jehovah shall not return, until he have
executed, and till he have performed the
intents of his heart: in the latter days
ye shall understand it.
•Or, careth for
l0 Or, return to
“Or, mound Heb. tel.
u Or, remain
ls Heb. hath been surety for his heart.
14 Or, gathering
Vers. 1-24. Israel in Tribulation and the Promised Deliv¬
erance.
There are some of course who think this chapter looks primarily to
the restoration of the Jews from Babylon and the raising up of the Mes¬
siah, and while this is doubtless true there can, however, be scarcely any
doubt but that it looks on further into the future, as the language plainly
indicates, and that whatever restoration was made after the capture of
Babylon was but a pledge of the fuller restoration which is yet to take place.
Ver. 3. The ten tribes (Israel) are mentioned first because their
captivity had been longer. A few of them only returned with Judah,
154
JEREMIAH
and this promise having never been fulfilled must await for its complete
fulfillment for the days which are still to come.
Ver. 5. Jehovah here introduces the Jews as speaking for themselves.
The dark background set forth in this and the following verses only sets
off in stronger light the blessings that are to be revealed.
This verse and the two following do not refer to the political con¬
vulsion and calamities of the heathen nations that resulted in the capture
of Babylon and the releasing of the Jews, as some think, but to the troubles
of the Jews themselves.
With regard to verses 5 to 8 Campbell Morgan says, "Exposition is
scarcely needed here. There cannot be two periods of unexampled tribula¬
tion, and Jeremiah and Jesus, in Matthew, therefore speak of the same
period. The passages cannot refer to the destruction of Jerusalem for
while that was a time of Jewish tribulation the Jews were not saved out
of it, but were slain by the thousands and the remnant were carried away
into slavery. Neither was the Davidic monarchy restored at that time.
Jesus says it is the elect who are in tribulation, and Jeremiah tells us of
whom Jesus speaks, namely the elect Jews. It is the time of Jacob’s trou¬
ble. The period then is yet future."
Ver. 6. Nagelsbach says, "The prophet portrays with drastic vivid¬
ness the effects of the terror by saying that he saw men behaving like women
in the pangs of childbirth."
"Ask ye now”, —i. e., ask anywhere, consult all the authorities; you
will not find an instance.
Ver. 7. Here the cause of this terror is described.
"foe that day is great”, —The day is the same as that spoken of in
verses 5 and 6, and by being “great” is meant that it is marked by great
calamities. (Joel 2.11,31; Amos 5.18; Zeph. 1.14.)
Keil has quite properly said, "That day is for Jacob also, that is, for
all Israel, a time of distress; for the judgment falls not merely on the
heathen nations, but also on the godless members of the covenant people
that they may be destroyed from among the congregation of the Lord, but
the Israel of God will be delivered." The heathen nations are therefore
included in the judgment, which is for both them and Israel, but Israel
shall be saved out of it. It is clear therefore that the reference cannot be
to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans because this cannot be
represented at the same time as a day of deliverance for the Jews.
Ver. 8. “in that day”, —The day when Jacob shall be saved out
of his trouble.
“his yoke”, —The pronoun “his” as well as “thy” (thy neck) refers
to Jacob, such a change from the third to the second person being quite
frequent. God is both speaking about Jacob and addressing him. For¬
eigners shall no more make him their servant. After the deliverance from
Babylon by Cyrus, Judah did become the servant of Persia, Alexandria,
Antiochus Epiphanes and Rome, and therefore the full deliverance, it
would seem, must be future.
Ver. 9. “David, their king”, —The reference is no doubt here to
the Messiah. The conception of a second David is analogous to that of
155
JEREMIAH
the second Adam. The Messiah, it appears, is here called “David” not
merely as a descendent of David, but as a real David in the highest sense
and degree. (See Hos. 3.5.)
"whom I will raise up unto them”, —This refers of course to the
days of the Messiah which were to come, and is of course an incontrovert¬
ible argument that “the time of Jacob's trouble” looks primarily to a
period prior to the appearance of the Messiah.
Ver. 10. “thy seed”, —Though you yourselves, by reason of the
many years of captivity, may not see the restoration, the promise shall be
fulfilled to your seed, “primarily", says Fausset, “at the return from Baby¬
lon and fully at the final restoration."
Ver. 11 . “I will not make a full end of thee”, —Assyria and
Chaldea were utterly destroyed, but Israel, after chastisement, was deliv¬
ered.
Ver. 12. “Thy hurt is incurable”, —Her wounds were beyond her
own power or that of any human helpers, but not, of course, beyond the
power of God.
Ver. 14. “All thy lovers”, —i. e., the people formerly allied to thee,
Egypt, Assyria and other nations with whom she had formerly made for¬
bidden alliances.
Ver. 15. “Why criest thou for thy hurt?” —She had no right to
complain and cry because she had brought on this suffering through her
own sins.
Ver. 16. I prefer with Nagelsbach to connect this verse with verse
11, although it may quite as logically be connected with verse 13. (F. K.
Cow.)
Ver. 1 8. “tents”, —This intimates their present dwelling in Chaldea
as temporary only.
“have compassion on his dwelling places”, —This means doubtless
that the dwellings that have been destroyed will be restored.
“builded upon its own hill”, —This rendering is much to be pre¬
ferred, a hill being the usual site for a city. (F. K. Cow.) It also the bet
ter answers the parallel clause, “after its own manner”, i. e., in the same be¬
coming way as formerly, than does the rendering of Nagelsbach, “upon
its own heap of ruins."
“after its own manner ”,—This doubtless means “according to its
right” (Deut. 17.11), that is, in accordance with what a palace requires,
after its own fashion.
Cowles says, “When we cannot find an adequate fulfillment for a
prophecy like this in its external and literal application, we are certainly
justified in assuming its outlook onward to the better, brighter days of
King Messiah." This is certainly true, and ought it not to be held as
further true that, if in the days of the Messiah its complete fulfillment did
not take place, we are justified in looking for a further fulfillment in the
days that are yet to come. The restored city and temple under Zerub-
babel never did reach the magnificence of the days of Solomon, and neither
was this true of Herod's temple.
156
JEREMIAH
Ver. 20. "Their children also shall be as aforetime", —Their chil¬
dren shall come into settled and precious relations to the Lord their God,
enjoying the full blessings of the covenant even as in the days of old.
They shall flourish as in the days of David.
"their congregation shall be established" ,—They shall no more be
shaken or moved from their position.
Ver. 21. "shall be of themselves", —i. e. f be a Jew, and not a
foreigner. That the words "prince" and "ruler" refer to the Messiah there
can be no doubt, and they can be applicable to Zerubbabel only as a type
of Christ, the Messiah.
"cause him to draw near and he shall approach unto me", —God will
cause the "prince" and the "ruler" (the Messiah) to draw near as the great
high priest through whom believers also have access to God. He is called
"king" in verse 9, and here he is called "prince" and "ruler". His priestly
and kingly characters are similarly combined in Ps. 110.4 and Zech. 6.13.
He may approach unto Jehovah and in this the mediatorial position of the
king is announced.
"For", —This states the reason why the Lord leads the prince to
Himself, i. e., because there is no other who would be capable of entering
into this relation of nearness and communion with God.
In this last clause some introduce the word "otherwise", i. e., Who
would otherwise, that is, without my special permission, dare commit his
heart to approach unto me,—Who would dare such near approach if I
bad not invited and drawn him? But there is nothing in the Hebrew
:o represent this word "otherwise", and this alone is fatal to its use.
"who is he", —By some this is taken in the sense of surprise, astonish¬
ment, that any sinful mortal should dare such approach; by some as a
question of rebuke and repulsion, as if to bid him begone; by some as if
:he question were one of offended dignity or at least of invaded dignity,
nquiring the rank of the intruder who thus presumes to draw near to God.
3ut all this is foreign to the course of the thought and the flow of feeling
hroughout the chapter. We must, as Cowles says, regard the question
is implying on the part of God a joyous welcome to him who thus pledges
lis heart to draw near unto Him. The question is an emotional one and
lot a categorical one demanding an answer. Just as the question in Chap.
11.20 does not demand an answer but implies an outburst of parental
motion and gladly welcoming the prodigal home, so here whoever is
onceived of as drawing near to God it is evident that God is pleased and
[ladly welcomes him. The question, Fausset says, implies admiration at
>ne being found competent by reason of his twofold nature, as God and
nan, for the task.
"hath had boldness" ,—The literal Hebrew is, "hath been surety for
lis heart". Fausset gives to this a derived meaning such as "stake", "risk",
'venture", and takes the word "heart" in the sense of "life", heart being
ised only as expressive of the courage it takes to undertake such a tremen-
lous thing. Nagelsbach thinks this harsh and renders, "who stands bail
or his heart", as if the prophet wishes to say, "Who can stand for his
leart that it approach me?" Cowles says the action of the verb termi-
lates upon one’s own heart with reference to making approach unto God,
lence it would seem that the sense must be "to pledge one's own heart, to
157
JEREMIAH
covenant with oneself, solemnly committing and earnestly purposing and
endeavoring to approach unto God. Perhaps no better explanation can
be found than that given us by Fausset, the answer implied being evidently,
no one but the extraordinary person of the Mediator, the Christ, He
alone having made His life responsible as the surety in order to gain access
not only for Himself but for us."
Vers. 23,24. The reference here is as in Chap. 23.19,20, and refers
perhaps primarily to the judgment brought on the land and the cities of
Judah for their sins through the agency of the Chaldeans, although it must
be understood of a judgment extending to Babylon and other heathen
nations, the enemies of Israel, as well. It refers of course to all "wicked
ones" and in such a way as that the godless members of the covenant
people will be excluded from salvation.
"a sweeping tempest ”,—The idea is that of the rushing sound of the
storm as it carries everything along with it. The Authorized Version,
"continuing", gives hardly an appropriate meaning.
Hengstenberg connects the verses with what precedes, while Keil con
nects them with the judgment of verse 5 as a resumption, and Ewald con
nects them with the first verse of the following chapter, either of the latter
two connections being preferable to that of Hengstenberg, as affording
smoother transition.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
1 At that time, saith Jehovah, will
I be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be my people. 2 Thus
saith Jehovah, The people that were left
of the sword ‘found favor in the .wilder¬
ness: even Israel, s when I went to cause
him to rest. 3 Jehovah appeared ’of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love: therefore ’with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4
Again will I build thee, and thou shalt
be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt
thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and
shalt go forth in the dances of them that
make merry. 5 Again shalt thou plant
vineyards upon the mountains of Sa¬
maria : the planters shall plant, and shall
“enjoy the fruit thereof. 6 For there
shall be a day, that the watchmen upon
the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise
ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jeho¬
vah our God.
7 For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with
gladness for Jacob, and shout ’for the
chief of the nations: publish ye, praise
ye, and say, O Jehovah, save they peo-
’Or, have found . . . when I go
s Or, when he went to find him rest
8 0r, from afar
‘Or, have I continued loving kindness unto
thee
B Heb. frofane. or, make common. See Lev.
19.23-25; Dt. 20.6; 28.30.
•Or, at the head
pie, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I
will bring them from the north coun¬
try, and gather them from the uttermost
parts of the earth, and with them the
blind and the lame, the woman with
child and her that travaileth with child
together: a great company shall they
return hither. 9 They shall come with
weeping; and with supplications will I
lead them: I will T cause them to walk
by rivers of waters, in a straight way
wherein they shall not stumble; for I
am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is
my first-born.
10 Hear the word of Jehovah. O ye
nations, and declare it in the isles afar
off; and say, he that scattered Israel will
gather him, and keep him. as a shepherd
doth his flock. 11 For Jehovah hath
ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from
the hand of him that was stronger than
he. 12 And they shall come and sing
in the height of Zion, and shall flow
unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the
grain, and to the new wine, and to the
oil, and to the young of the flock and
T Or, bring them unto
158
JEREMIAH
of the herd: and their soul shall be as a
watered garden; and they shall not sor¬
row any more at all. 13 Then shall
the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the
young men and the old together; for I
will turn their mourning into joy, and
will comfort them, and make them re¬
joice from their sorrow. 14 And I will
satiate the soul of the priests with fat¬
ness, and my people shall be satisfied
with my goodness, saith Jehovah.
15 Thus saith Jehovah; A voice is
heard in Ramah. lamentation, and bitter
weeping, Rachel weeping for her chil¬
dren; she refuseth to be comforted for
her children, because they are not. 1 6
Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice
from weeping, and thine eyes from
tears; for thy work shall be rewarded,
saith Jehovah; and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy. 17 And
there is hope for thy latter end, saith
Jehovah; and thy children shall come
again to their own border. 18 1 have
surely heard Ephraim, bemoaning him¬
self thus , Thou hast chastised me, and
I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed
to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall
be turned: for thou art Jehovah my
God. 19 Surely after that I was turned,
I repented; and after that I was in¬
structed. I smote upon my thigh: I was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because
I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a
darling child? for as often as I speak
against him. I do earnestly remember
him still: therefore my heart ®yearneth
for him: I will surely have mercy upon
him, saith Jehovah.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee
guide-posts; set thy heart toward the
highway, even the way by which thou
wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel,
turn again to these thy cities. 22 How
long wilt thou go hither and thither, O
thou backsliding daughter? for Jehovah
hath created a new thing in the earth:
A woman shall encompass a man.
23 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,
the God of Israel, Yet again shall they
use this speech in the land of Judah
and in the cities thereof, when I shall
*bring again their captivity: Jehovah
bless thee, O habitation of righteousness,
O mountain of holiness. 24 And Judah
and all the cities thereof shall dwell
therein together, the husbandmen, and
they that go about with flocks. 25 For
I have satiated the weary soul, and every
sorrowful soui have I replenished. 26
a H«b. j oundeth
®Or, return to
Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and
my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, saith Jeho¬
vah, that I will sow the house of Israel
and the house of Judah with the seed
of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass that, like
as I have watched over them to pluck up
and to break down and to overthrow
and to destroy and to afflict, so will I
watch over them to build and to plant,
saith Jehovah. 29 In those days they
shall say no more. The fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and the children’s
teeth are set on edge. 3 0 But every
one shall die for his own iniquity: every
man that eateth the sour grapes, his
teeth shall be set on edge.
3 1 Behold, the days come, saith Jeho¬
vah, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: 32 not according to
the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt; ,f, which my covenant they
brake, although I was "a husband unto
them, saith Jehovah. 33 But this is
the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, saith
Jehovah: I will put my law in their
inward parts, and in their heart will I
write it; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. 34 And they
shall teach no more every man his neigh¬
bor. and every man his brother, saying,
Know .Jehovah; for they shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I
will forgive their iniquity, and their sin
will I remember no more.
3 5 Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth
the sun for a light by day, and the ordi¬
nances of the moon and of the stars for
a light by night, who “stirreth up the
sea, so that the waves thereof roar:
Jehovah of hosts is his name: 3 6 If
these ordinances depart from before me.
saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel
also shall cease from being a nation
before me for ever. 37 Thus saith
Jehovah: If heaven above can be meas¬
ured, and the foundations of the earth
searched out beneath, then will I also
cast off all the seed of Israel for all that
they have done, saith Jehovah.
38 Behold, the days come, saith Jeho¬
vah, that the city shall be built to Jeho¬
vah from the tower of Hananel unto the
gate of the corner. 39 And the meas¬
uring line shall go out further straight
onward unto the hill Gareb, and shall
l0 Or, forasmuch as they brake my covenant
11 Or, lord over them
i: Or, stillsth the sea, when, etc .
159
JEREMIAH
turn about unto Goah. 40 And the
whole valley of the dead bodies and of
the ashes, and all the fields unto the
brook Kidron, unto the corner of the
horse gate toward the east, shall be
holy unto Jehovah; it shall not be
plucked up, nor thrown down any more
for ever.
Vers. 1-40. THE DECREE OF RESTORATION AND THE NEW COVENANT.
Vcr. 1. “At the same time ’,—i. e., in the time of the latter days.
Cowles, who refers the fulfillment of the prophecy to the present dispen¬
sation, says that it indicates a great enlargement and increase of the visible
Church and kingdom of the Messiah. Fausset, of course, calls attention
to the fact that the prophecy has never yet been fulfilled.
Ver. 2. The prophet devotes more attention to the ten tribes, Israel,
evidently because judging from all appearances they seem irrevocably lost’
forever, rejected of the Lord.
“left of the sword”, —i. e., escaped from the sword of the Chaldeans
and were carried captive into the wilderness.
By Ewald and others this verse is made to refer to those who were
delivered from the captivity of Egypt. But this cannot be. The Ten
Tribes did not then obtain a special deliverance; Pharaoh did not oppress
them by the sword; Israel was then led through the desert as a whole and*
not as a remnant. The whole relates to the future as is proven by verses
4 to 6, which verses only particularize what was said in verses 2 and 3, the
perfects in verses 2 and 3 being prophetical. The words “escaped from
the sword” seem unconditionally to require us to refer the passage to the
deliverance of Israel from exile. It is of course proper to conceive of the
restoration of Israel from exile under the figure of their exodus out of
Egypt into the promised land of their fathers, as in Hos. 2.13.
“when 1 went to cause him to rest ”,—This is perhaps better trans¬
lated by Keil, “Let me go to cause him to rest". Nagelsbach renders it,
“Up to bring him to rest", taking it as a command, as it were, from God'
to Himself. Both of these latter renderings take the words as an expres¬
sion relating to the future.
Ver. 3. Israel gratefully acknowledges God's favor.
“of old ”,—Fausset says that this implies that God does not so appear
to her now. We prefer the marginal reading, “from afar", implying that
the Lord had kept Himself afar off, having almost, as it were, disappeared;
from their sight. (K. Na. Cow.) Keil says that so long as Israel wa$s
in exile the Lord had apparently withdrawn from them. “From afar”
probably means from Zion where He was enthroned.
“with lovingkindness have / drawn thee ”,—This rendering is a
proper one, but wc prefer with Keil that of the margin as the better, i. e.
“I have continued (drawn out) my loving kindness toward thee." (Set*
Ps. 36.4.)
Ver. 3. “Samaria”, —i. e., the capital of the Ten Tribes.
“planters shall plant and shalt enjoy the fruit thereof”, —The render¬
ing of the Authorized Version is here much to be preferred since it nor
only gives a far more preferable meaning but adheres strictly to the origina I
language. It shall no longer be that one shall plant and another shall ear
the fruit. (See the law about this in Lev. 19.23-25, and see also Isa. 62.8. )■
160
JEREMIAH
The idea contained in the marginal reading is that the fruits are to
be applied to one's own use (Deut. 20.6), i. e., common (profane), no
longer restricted to holy use as set forth in Lev. 19.
Ver. 6. " the hills of Ephraim”, —This stands for the whole moun¬
tainous region of the Ten Tribes.
“up to Zion”, —i. e., up to the annual feasts as in the days of old.
Ver. 7. “the chief of the nations ",—The reference is to Israel.
God estimates the greatness of nations not by man’s standard of material
resources, but by His electing favor. In this verse the people are urged
with prayers and praises to supplicate for the restoration.
Ver. 8. “and with them”, etc .—So universal is the restoration to
be that not even the most unfit will be left behind.
Ver. 9. “weeping”, —Tears of joy as well as penitential tears.
“Ephraim is my first-born”, — (See Exodus 4.22). The designation
of Israel as a whole in the Exodus passage is here transferred to Ephraim as
the head and representative of the Ten Tribes. There is no trace in this
prophecy of any preference given Israel over Judah. We have already
seen why Ephraim is mentioned first and at greater length than Judah is
mentioned a little later. The designation “first-born” here simply shows
that Israel is not to be in any sense behind Judah; the love which God
displayed toward whole Israel is to be shown toward this disobedient part
of Israel, the Ten Tribes.
Ver. 10. Even heathen nations afar off will have their attention
arrested by this wonderful happening to Israel, and even they must pro¬
claim God's willingness to redeem graciously His people.
Ver. 12. “to the goodness of the Lord” —i. e., to the Lord as the
source of all good things.
Ver. 14. “satiate with fatness”, —The reference is to the fat pieces
of the thank-offering, because numerous offerings will be made to the Lord
in consequence of the blessings received from Him.
Ver. 15. Rachel, who so loved her children, is represented as lifting
her maternal head from the tomb and looking around on the wild waste
of ruin and sees none of her children in their native land.
Nagelsbach says the voice of Rachel is heard in Ramah because her
tomb is there, but makes it the Ramah five miles north of Jerusalem. But
Gen. 3 5.16 says Rachel was buried south of Jerusalem and near Bethlehem.
Delitzsch says that Rachel's weeping is heard in Ramah, not because her
tomb is in that neighborhood but because according to Jer. 40.1 the
exiles were assembled there by Nebuchadnezzar before transportation into
exile. But Keil rightly objects to this view because it was Jews who were
assembled there and were from there to be carried away captive, whereas
it was over Israelites or Ephraimites that had been carried away that Rachel
weeps.
Samuel lived in Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem, not far from
Gibeah. (I Sam. 7.17.) All attempts to fix the tomb of Rachel at Ramah
north of Jerusalem are groundless. If then she was buried near Bethlehem
it was far away from Ramah, there being no Ramah near Bethlehem.
161
JEREMIAH
Keil says, and we feel rightly, that the weeping is heard at Ramah as
the most northernly situated border town of the two kingdoms, whence the
wailing that had arisen sounded far and near, and could be heard in Judah.
She weeps as their common mother. As the people are often included
under the notion of “the daughter of Zion ' as their ideal representative,
so here the great ancestress of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh is named
as the representative of the maternal love shown by Israel in the pain felt
when the people are lost, the mother of the ruling tribe, Ephraim, appear¬
ing thus as the personification of the kingdom ruled by it.
This verse is quoted by Matthew after relating the story of the mas¬
sacre of the children at Bethlehem. From this we can hardly conclude, as
did the older theologians, that Jeremiah directly prophesied that event, be¬
cause it will not fit in with the context of the prophecy. The expression
used by Matthew only shows that the prophecy of Jeremiah received a
new fulfillment through the act of Herod.
Ver. 16. “thy work shall be rewarded", —i. e., thy parental weep¬
ing for thy children; all the pain and grief which thou hast borne and all
thy toiling in love for Zion shall not go unrewarded; thy grief shall not
be perpetual because thy children, the exiles, shall return.
Ver. 17. “there is hope for thy latter end", —i. e., all thy calamities
shall have a prosperous issue.
Ver. 18. “Thou hast chastised me and / was chastised ",—The first
refers to the chastisement itself and the second to the beneficial effects of this
chastisement.
“as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke", —As one therefore needing the
goad. Fausset says that when Israel is restored, which as yet she has not
been, she will confess that the chastisement was for her good.
Ver. 19. "'smote upon thy thigh", —i. e., as a sign of mourning, of
terror and horror, of grief and indignation against oneself. (Ezek. 21.17.)
Ver. 20. To the question Fausset says a negative reply was to be
expected, i. e., No, to judge from the way he has acted and lived. And
yet God so regards him, and on Ephraim's being turned to God he is so
welcomed. The question does not really call for an answer. It is, as
Cowles says, the outburst and overflow of strong emotion. It seems
almost like an expression of God's surprise at Himself for so considering
Ephraim after all his sin. (Na. Ma. Ros. Cow.)
“speak against him", —i. e., threaten him on account of his idolatry.
Ver. 21. Waymarks and guide posts and heaps of stones to guide
their way through the desert on their return.
“to these thy cities", —The words “these" shows that the author has
his point of view in Palestine and not in the,land of captivity,—the sum¬
mons issues from the homeland.
Ver. 22. “go hither and thither", —i. e., after human help.
“A woman shall encompass a man" ,—The Christian Fathers almost
unanimously interpreted this of the Virgin Mary compassing Christ. A
number of arguments are presented favoring this view but none of them
162
JEREMIAH
are very strong, while there are objections which are fatal to this inter¬
pretation. The new arrangement on earth, whatever it may be, is men¬
tioned as a motive which should rouse Ephraim to return without delay to
the Lord and to His cities. This should be borne in mind in trying to
explain the meaning of this strange sentence. Therefore the following
will not do:
1. Those who formerly behaved like women shall be men. (Lut.)
2. A woman shall change into a man. (Ew.)
3. The woman shall protect the man. (Ros. Ma. Ges.)
4. The woman shall turn the man to herself. (Na.)
None of these four interpretations furnish the motive mentioned
and none of them can be lexically sustained because the word " encompass "
does not bear the meanings thus given to it; nor can any of them with
much propriety be called a new creative act or a new arrangement of things.
5. A fifth and very commendable interpretation is that of Keil, who
thinks the word " encompass " is better rendered ''embrace/' and who trans¬
lates as follows, “A woman shall embrace a man", the woman being the
virgin Israel and the man being Jehovah. Hitzig renders, "make suit to
a man", while Cowles retains the word "encompass", but all three of these
authorities rightly perceive that the general idea has been set forth with
special reference to the relation between the woman, Israel, and the man,
Jehovah, and their interpretations are practically one and the same thing.
There is a change of relations between the Lord and Israel. The word
means to compass with love and care, to lovingly embrace, the natural and
fitting dealing on the part of the stronger to the weak and those who need
assistance, and now the new thing that God creates consists in this, that
the woman, the weaker nature, that needs help, will lovingly and solici¬
tously surround the man, the stronger. God deals so condescendingly
toward weak Israel that she can lovingly embrace Him. It is a new thing
for a woman to woo a man. The word " encompass '' means to go around
about and the idea is that of soliciting the hand, wooing the heart, seeking
the love of her rightful Lord.
Ver. 23. Here the prophecy turns to Judah and conceives of her
as coming back from her captivity. Jerusalem was again to be the habi¬
tation of righteousness, and Zion will again be the seat of the Divine King.
Ver. 26. These words refer not to the people languishing in exile
(Jer.), nor to God (Um. Ros. Mic.), such a thing as sleep being inap¬
propriate as referred to God. They refer to the prophet. (K. F. Na.
Hit. Cow. Hen. Kim.)
Ver. 29. Nagelsbach explains, "The fathers have begun to eat sour
grapes, but not until the teeth of the children have become blunted by
them", the meaning being that the punishment does not always come im¬
mediately upon the first who are guilty, but upon those of the second,
third and fourth generations. But the change of tense in the verbs is
against this, the first being perfect and the second imperfect, and this shows
that the blunting of the children’s teeth is set down as the result of the
fathers’ eating. The proverb means that the children atone for the mis¬
deeds of their fathers.
Why shall they no more say this?
163
JEREMIAH
1. Because they will have no more occasion to say it. (K. Hit. Cow.)
The children born in exile of their exiled parents complained
doubtless that they were suffering for the sins of their fathers.
It is true that during the season of exile the nation did suffer the
retributions that had been accumulating for ages. The follow¬
ing verse would seem to favor this view of the matter.
2. Because they will no longer be disposed to thus reflect upon the
government of God, as in that wicked proverb, but they will per¬
ceive that every one has to suffer for his own guilt. (Graf.) But
the proverb is not a wicked one; it is true.
3. Because after the re-establishment of Israel, the Lord will make
known to His people His grace in so glorious a manner that the
favored ones will perceive the righteousness of His government
and His judgments. (K.)
Ver. 30. This verse unquestionably contains the opposite of verse
29. It does not, however, says Keil, contain a judgment expressed by
the prophet in opposition to that of his contemporaries, but it simply de¬
clares that the opinion contained in that current proverb shall no longer be
accepted then, but the favored people will recognize in the death of the
sinner the punishment due them for their own sins.
Ver. 31. " a new covenant", —i. e., as compared with the old one
made with their fathers at Sinai when the people were led out of Egypt.
“The remaining verses of this chapter", says Cowles, “have but one
theme—the richer spiritual blessings of the Gospel age."
Ver. 33. “ after those days", —Keil thinks the inexact expression
"after" owes its origin to the idea contained in the phrase, "in the end of
the days". The days meant are the coming days.
Fausset says, “With ' the remnant according to the election of grace’
in Israel the new covenant has already taken effect, but with regard to the
whole nation its realization is reserved for the last days, to which Paul
refers this prophecy in an abridged form in Romans 11.27."
Ver. 34. This verse does not contain a prohibition but a prediction.
Why is this prediction to be true?
Is it because knowledge will be so universal that there is no longer
occasion for teaching? The words, "all shall know me ", would seem
so to imply. Yet the connection with the previous verse, which makes the
teaching of the Spirit so prominent, would seem to indicate another reason,
suggesting that far less teaching is left for man to do under the new cove¬
nant than under the old covenant. The words therefore do not mean
that, “the office of the teacher must cease" (Hit.), but merely that the
knowledge of God will, under the new covenant, be no longer dependent
upon the communication and instruction of man. The Holy Spirit is a
teacher so glorious as to eclipse all human agencies. The statement of the
verse is comparative rather than absolute.
Ver. 36. "these ordinances" ,—i. e., the established arrangements.
Though Israel's national polity has been broken up they are still
reserved as a distinct people though scattered among the nations of the
world for twenty centuries. Cowles insists that we must look beyond
164
JEREMIAH
the outward Israel for the fulfillment of this prophecy to the spiritual
Israel, the sanctified people of the living God, while others, conceding the
view of Cowles as one proper form of interpretation, contend that there is
yet to be an outward and literal fulfillment in the days that are yet to come.
Ver. 37. The measuring of the heavens and the searching out of the
foundations of the earth are set forth as things impossible to be done and
adduced to show that this casting off of Israel can never be.
Vers. 38-40. The measuring starts from the well-known "footer of
Hananel” in the northwest quarter of the city, runs to the northwest
corner gate, then includes Gareb, the hill of the leprous outside of the city
on the northwest, then to the hill of Goah, the place of capital punish¬
ment; then finally the whole valley of the son of Hinnom, including
Tophet defiled by the accumulated filth of the city with its worms and
ever-burning fires. All these defiled places are to be embraced in the city
and are to be made thoroughly clean and holy before the Lord.
By some the hill of Goah is supposed to be identical with Golgotha
(V. Hen.), but by others (Hit. Fur.) it is taken as the projecting rock
of the castle of Antonia on the southwest corner. It can hardly be identi¬
fied as Golgotha because the latter was north or northwest of the city and
the line was running down toward the southwest, while furthermore lexical
considerations are against so taking it.
Says Keil, and with him agrees Cowles, "The prophecy does not refer
to the building of Jerusalem after the exile, but to the erection of a more
spiritual kingdom of God in the Messianic age—the prophecy reaches on
to the time when the kingdom of God shall have been perfected—it con¬
tains under an Old Testament dress the outlines of the image of the
heavenly Jerusalem which John saw on Patmos in its full glory."
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
36 And now therefore thus saith
Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning
this city, whereof ye say, It is given
into the hand of the king of Babylon
by the sword, and by the famine, and
by the pestilence: 37 Behold, I will
gather them out of all the countries,
whither I have driven them in mine
»
anger, and in my wrath, and in great
indignation: and I will bring them
again unto this place, and I will cause
them to dwell safely. 38 And they
shall be my people, and I will be their
God: 39 and I will give them one heart
and one way, that they may fear me
for ever, for the good of them, and of
their children after them: 40 and I will
make an everlasting covenant ‘with them,
that I will not turn away from fol¬
lowing them, to do them good; and I
will put my fear in their hearts, that
they may not depart from me. 41 Yea,
I will rejoice over them to do them
good, and I will plant them in this
land 'assuredly with my whole heart
and with my whole soul. 42 For
thus saith Jehovah: Like as I have
brought all this great evil upon this
people, so will I bring upon them all
the good that I have promised them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this
land, whereof ye say. It is desolate,
without man or beast; it is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans. 44 Men
shall buy fields for money, and sub¬
scribe the deeds, and seal them, and call
witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and
in the places about Jerusalem, and in the
cities of Judah, and in the cities of the
hill-country, and in the cities of the
lowland, and in the cities of the South:
for I will cause their captivity to re¬
turn, saith Jehovah.
J Heb. in truth
165
JEREMIAH
Vers. 36-44. FURTHER PROPHECY OF ISRAEL'S RETURN AND RESTOR¬
ATION.
Ver. 36. "Therefore thus saith the Lord", —These words corre¬
spond to the same words in verse 28. "Therefore", —i. e. t because noth¬
ing is too hard for the Lord. He is now drawing the second inference
from the fact that nothing is too hard for Him to accomplish. Fausset
would render, "Now nevertheless" without seeking connection with the
"therefore" of verse 28. This is permissible, although the former con¬
struction appears to be the better one.
Ver. 37. This prophecy has never received as yet but meager ful¬
fillment, and while some look solely to the -Gospel age for their fulfillment,
others believe the words look on to the last days, to the kingdom-age which
is to follow, though accepting of course as a possible interpretation the view
which finds their fulfillment in the Gospel age.
Ver. 40. “they way not depart from me", —Fausset says this has
never yet been fully realized as to the Israelites.
Ver. 41. "assuredly with my whole heart", —The first planting
was imperfect as was the first covenant because it was only hypothetical and
because the Lord knew the condition would not be kept and He could
not therefore be in it with His whole heart. Now He knows, for He
Himself has promised (verse 40) that the condition will be fulfilled;
therefore He can designate the planting as done "assuredly" ("in truth"—
margin), without the reservation that it is only for a short time, and also
as one which He performs with a whole and an undivided heart.
Ver. 42. The restoration from Babylon was only a slight fore¬
taste, says Fausset, of the grace to be expected by Israel at last through
Christ.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
1 Moreover the word of Jehovah
came unto Jeremiah the second time,
while he was yet shut up in the court
of the guard, saying, 2 Thus saith Je¬
hovah that doeth it, Jehovah that form-
eth it to establish it; Jehovah is his
name: 3 Call unto me. and I will an¬
swer thee, and will show thee great
things, and Mifficult, which thou know-
est not. 4 For thus saith Jehovah, the
God of Israel, concerning the houses
of this city, and concerning the houses
of the kings of Judah, which are broken
down fo make a defence against the
mounds and against the swords; 5 while
men come to fight with the Chaldeans,
and to fill them with the dead bodies
of men, whom I have slain in mine
anger and in my wrath, and for all
whose wickedness I have hid my face
from this city: 6 Behold, I will bring
1 Heb, fortified
it ’health and cure, and I will cure
them; and I will reveal unto them
abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I
will cause the captivity of Judah and
the captivity of Israel to return, and
will build them, as at the first. 8 And
I will cleanse them from all their in¬
iquity, whereby they have sinned against
me; and I will pardon all their iniqui¬
ties, whereby they have sinned against
me, and whereby they have transgressed
against me. 9 And this city shall be
to me for a name of joy, for a praise
and for a glory, before all the nations
of the earth, which shall hear all the
good that I do unto them, and shall
fear and tremble for all the good and
for all the. peace that I procure unto it.
10 Thus saith Jehovah: Yet again
there shall be heard in this place, where¬
of ye say, It is waste, without man
a Heb. a bandage
166
JEREMIAH
and without beast, even in the cities of
Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem,
that are desolate, without man and with¬
out inhabitant and without beast, 1 l
the voice of joy and the voice of glad¬
ness. the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride, the voice of them
that say, Give thanks to Jehovah of
hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his lov¬
ingkindness endureth for ever; and of
them that bring sacrifices of thanksgiv¬
ing into the house of Jehovah. For I
will cause the captivity of the land to
return as at the first, saith Jehovah.
12 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
Yet again shall there be in this place,
which is waste, without man and with¬
out beast, and in all the cities thereof, a
habitation of shepherds causing their
flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of
the hill-country, in the cities of the low¬
land, in the cities of the South, and in
the land of Benjamin, and in the places
about Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, shall the flocks again pass under
the hands of him that numbereth them,
saith Jehovah.
14 Behold, the days come, saith Jeho¬
vah, that I will perform that good word
which I have spoken concerning the
house of Israel and concerning the house
of Judah. 15 In those days, and at
that time, will I cause a Branch of right¬
eousness to grow up unto David; and
he shall execute justice and righteous¬
ness in the land. 16 In those days
shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely; and this is the name
whereby she shall be called: Jehovah our
righteousness. 17 For thus saith Jeho¬
vah; ’David shall never want a man to
sit upon the throne of the house of
Israel; 18 neither shall the priests the
Levites want a man before me to offer
burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offer¬
ings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19 And the word of Jehovah came
unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith
Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant
of the day, and my covenant of the
night, so that there shall not be day
and night in their season; 21 then may
also my covenant be broken with David
my servant, that he shall not have a son
to reign upon his throne; and with the
Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As
the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured;
so will I multiply the seed of David my
servant, and the Levites that minister
unto me.
23 And the word of Jehovah came
to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Considerest
thou not what this people have spoken,
saying. The two families which Jeho¬
vah did choose, he hath cast them off?
thus do they despise my people, that
they should be no more a nation before
them. 25 Thus saith Jehovah: If my
covenant of day and night stand not, if
I have not appointed the ordinances of
heaven and earth; 26' then will I also
cast away the seed of Jacob, and of
David my servant, so that I will not
take of his seed to be rulers over the
seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for
I will 4 cause their captivity to return,
and will have mercy on them.
s Heb. There shall not be cut off from David .
*Or, return to their captivity
Vers. 1-26. Further PROMISE OF ISRAEL'S GLORIOUS FUTURE.
Ver. 2. “Jehovah is His name ”,—In the name lies the guarantee of
His action. The Lord not only has power to carry out His thoughts but
He completes what He has spoken and determined on.
Ver. 3. This verse is probably addressed to Jeremiah though some
think it addressed to Israel. It is a call to pray for that which the Lord
has determined to grant, i. e., the restoration. (F. Na.)
“difficult ”,—The Hebrew means “inaccessible", incredible—hard to
man's understanding, namely the restoration of the Jews, an event
despaired of.
“which thou knowest not ”,—God had revealed this thing to Jere¬
miah, but the unbelief of the people in rejecting the grace of God had
caused him to forget God's promise, as though the case of the people ad¬
mitted of no remedy.
Ver. 4. “against the mounds ",—It is not that the houses are broken
down by the missiles of destruction hurled from these mounds, as Fausset
167
JEREMIAH
thinks; the houses are pulled down, according to Isa. 22.10, in order to
fortify the walls of the city in defense against the attacks from these
mounds of the besiegers. The houses of kings are mentioned along with
others to show that no house is spared to defend the city.
Ver. 5. The Jewish soldiers go to fight with the Chaldeans but
only to fill the houses with their own slain. (K. F. Cow.) The word
"them” is a bit troublesome, inasmuch as the houses already thrown
down cannot be filled and of other houses no mention has been made,
unless the reference be to the houses before they have been thrown down.
Changing the word " Chaldeans” to “Jerusalem" and making the mounds
and the sword the subject of "come”, as Nagelsbach does, is hardly per¬
missible.
Ver. 7. Fausset reminds us that the specification of both Judah and
Israel can only apply fully to the future restoration.
"as at the first ”,— (Isa. 1.26. See also verse 11 of this chapter.)
Ver. 9. "it” refers to the city of Jerusalem, "them” to its inhabi¬
tants, and "they” to the Gentiles. (K. F. Na. Cow.)
"fear and tremble”, —It is the idea of wholesome fear that is here
most strongly set forth. The ungodly shall tremble for fear of God’s
judgment on them, and the penitent shall reverentially fear and turn to the
Lord. That this latter thought is the predominating one is set forth in
the fact that Jerusalem is to be a "joy” unto all the nations when they
hear of what the Lord has done for it.
Ver. 13. "pass under the hands of him that numbereth them”r —
The usual mode of counting the flocks. The fact that they must be num¬
bered speaks therefore of multitudes.
Ver. 14. The promise of verses 14 to 16 has already been given
in Chap. 23.3,6, where see remarks.
"that good word”, — (See Deut. 28.1-14).
This verse forms a transition from the promise of the restoration
and blessings of Israel in the future to the special promise of the renewal
and completion of the Davidic monarchy; the blessing promised to the
people in the "good word” culminates in the promise (verse 15) that the
Lord will cause a righteous spout to spring up for David.
Ver. 16. "Jehovah our righteousness”, —The righteousness which
the Messiah works in and on Jerusalem may, without changing the sub¬
stance of the thought, be attributed to Jerusalem herself inasmuch as
she reflects this righteousness bestowed upon her. This name in Chap-
23.5,6 is given to the sprout of David, and the transference of it to the
city of Jerusalem is connected with the fact that the name only expresses
what the Messiah is to the people.
Ver. 17. This prediction does not preclude a temporary interrup¬
tion, and has been fulfilled in Christ, the Messiah.
Ver. 18. Hebrews say this priesthood is to give way to a higher
one. Nagelsbach says, “Though lost in its outward, temporal and local
form, it was really afterwards established in its ideal character." Fausset
168
JEREMIAH
says, "Messiah's literal priesthood (Heb. 7.17,21,25-28) and His follow¬
ers' spiritual priesthood and sacrifices (Rom. 12,1; 15.16; I Pet. 2.5,9;
Rev. 1.6) shall never cease, according to the covenant with Levi, broken
by the priests, but fulfilled in the Messiah (Num. 25.12,13; Mai.
24.5,8)."
Keil says, "The prophecy which follows shows clearly that the restor¬
ation spoken of will not be a reinstitution of the old form which was then
perishing but a renovation of it, in its essential features, to a permanent
existence."
Ver. 20. “of the day ",—Better rendered, "with the day", and so
"with the night", answering to the covenant with David. The kingdom
and the priesthood is to flourish in the Messiah, says Fausset, when the
whole nation shall temporarily and spiritually prosper.
Ver. 22. “as the hosts of heaven . the sands of the sea “,—Jahn
remarks that this would be a burden on the people if there is to be an un¬
limited increase of the royal and priestly posterity. But Exodus 19.6
says, "Israel shall be a kingdom of priests", and Isaiah 61.6 says, "ye
shall be named the priests of Jehovah and men shall call you the ministers
of our God." The priestly and royal character of the whole people is
referred to, and this is only to be realized, says Nagelsbach, as the whole of
regenerated humanity is included.
Vers. 24-26. The same promise is here repeated, especially to rebut
the unbelieving cavils of some among the people. By saying what they
did, they despised the Lord’s people and insulted the Lord Himself by
assuming that His promises were worthless. The “two families " are of
course Judah and Israel, and it is hardly worth while to rebut the yiew of
Hitzig that “this people " refers to foreign nations.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah s
eyes and bound him with chains, to
carry him to Babylon.
Ver. 7. The Beginning OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES.
At this date began "the times of the Gentiles", from which time on
Jerusalem has been "trodden down of the Gentiles", and this has been
true from the time of Nebuchadnezzar even until this day. Jerusalem
has been during all this time under Gentile rule and dominion.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
1 The word of Jehovah which came
to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the
nations.
27 But fear not thou, O Jacob my
servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel:
for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and
thy seed from the land of their captiv¬
ity: and Jacob shall return, and shall be
quiet and at ease, and none shall make
him afraid. 28 Fear not thou, O Jacob
my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am
with thee: for I will make a full end of
all the nations whither I have driven
thee; but I will not make a full end of
thee, but I will correct thee in 'measure,
and will in no wise 2 leave thee unpun¬
ished.
J Heb. judgment
2 Or, hold thee guiltless
169
JEREMIAH
Vers. 1,27,28. The Judgment of the Gentiles and the De¬
liverance of Israel.
Ver. 1. ‘‘concerning the nations ",—Scofield calls attention to the
fact that we are to distinguish between a near and a far fulfillment of
these prophecies against the Gentiles. The near vision, as seen in verse 2,
is of a Babylonish invasion of Egypt, but verses 27 and 28 look forward]
to the judgment of the nations after Armageddon (Matt. 25.32), and the
deliverance of Israel.
On verses 27 and 28 see Chap. 30.10,11, from which place they
are here repeated.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
47 Yet will I ^ring back the cap¬
tivity of Moab in the latter days, saith
Jehovah. Thus far is the judgment of
Moab.
J Or, return to
Vers. 46,47. The Conversion of the Heathen in the Final
Period.
Ver. 46. This verse is copied from Numbers 21.29, and in the?
verse which follows restoration is promised for the sake of righteous Lot,
their progenitor.
Ver. 47. In verse 42 it is said that Moab shall be destroyed. The
fact seems to be that under the Chaldean army, shortly after Jeremiah
wrote, Moab suffered severely, yet she rallied again and was prosperous,
in the age of Josephus; but its nationality has long since ceased.
Gospel blessings, temporal and spiritual, to the Gentiles in the last
days are intended.
“in the latter days \—i. e., at the end of the days, in Messianic times?
there is in store for them a turn in their fortunes. Similar promises are
made for Egypt (Chap. 46.26), and for Ammon and Elam, in Chap.
49.6 and 39.
46 Woe unto thee, O Moab! the
people of Chemosh is undone; for thy
sons are taken away captive, and thy
daughters into captivity.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Vers. 6,39. (See remarks under Chap. 48.47.) There was but
partial fulfillment under Cyrus of these promises, but they were to have at
more complete fulfillment in Gospel times.
CHAPTER FIFTY
4 In those days, and in that time,
saith Jehovah, the children of Israel
shall come, they and the children of
Judah together; they shall go on their
way weeping, and shall seek Jehovah
their God. 5 They shall inquire con¬
cerning Zion with their faces thither¬
ward, saying , Come ye, and a join your¬
selves to Jehovah in an everlasting
covenant that shall not be forgotten.
*Or, hitherward
3 Or, they shall join themselves
6 My people have been lost sheep:
their shepherds have caused them to go
astray; they have turned them away on
the mountains; they taave gone from
mountain to hill; they have forgotten
their resting-place. 7 All that found
them have devoured them; and their ad¬
versaries said. We are not guilty, be¬
cause they have sinned against Jehovah,
the habitation of righteousness, even Je¬
hovah, the hope of their fathers.
170
JEREMIAH
19 And I will bring Israel again to
his 'pasture, and he shall feed on Car¬
mel and Bashan, and his soul shall be
satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and
in Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time,
saith Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for. and there shall be none;
and the sins of Judah, and they shall not
be found; for I will pardon them
whom I leave as a remnant.
•Or, fold
Vers. 4-7,19,20,33,34. The Chosen People Restored AND United
in Eternal Covenant with Their God.
Ver. 4. "In those days and in that time", —i. e., the time coincident
with the fall of Babylon.
"they shall go on their way weeping", —Weeping doubtless with joy
at their restoration and with sorrow at the remembrance of their sins and
sufferings.
Fausset reminds us that this prophecy was fulfilled in part when some
few of the Ten Tribes of Israel joined with Judah in a covenant with God
at the restoration of Judah to its land, but that the full event is yet to
come. (Chap. 31.9; Hos. 1.11; Zech. 12.10.)
Ver. 5. "thitherward", —The Hebrew is “hitherward", Jeremiah's
prophetic standpoint being at Zion.
Ver. 6. "they have gone from mountain to hill", —These words
have no meaning unless they are understood of the idolatrous dealings of
Israel, the mountains and hills being those on which they sacrificed to idols.
"their resting place", —This is, according to verse 7, Jehovah the
hope of their fathers.
Ver. 19. Carmel and Bashan were the most fertile tracts of the
country and the mountains of Ephraim and Gilead furnished fodder in
abundance for the sheep.
Ver. 20. Fausset says the mention of Israel as well as Judah shows
that the full reference is to times yet to come.
"and there shall be none . . . and they shall not be found" ,—God's
promise to grant pardon points to the time of the new covenant. God for
Christ’s sake will count them innocent. The reference is to Messianic
times and the sin and iniquity refers not to idolatry but to the rejection of
the Messiah, and of this it is predicted that they shall not be guilty in
those days, though thus guilty now.
Ver. 33. He anticipates an objection in order to answer it, i. e., ye
have been no doubt oppressed and therefore ye despair of deliverance; but
remember your Redeemer is strong and therefore can and will deliver you.
Ver. 34. "strong", —i. e., as opposed to the power of Israel’s op¬
pressor.
"thoroughly plead their cause", —God, as their advocate, delivers His
people not by mere might but by righteousness.
33 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts;
The children of Israel and the children
of Judah are oppressed together; and
all that took them captive hold them
fast; they refuse to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; Jeho¬
vah of hosts is his name; he will thor¬
oughly plead their cause, that he may
give rest to the earth, and disquiet the
inhabitants of Babylon.
171
EZEKIEL
THE BOOK OF
EZEKIEL
(B. C. 595—B. C. 574)
CHAPTER ELEVEN
17 Therefore say, Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from
the peoples, and assemble you out of the
countries where ye have been scattered,
and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 And they shall come thither, and
they shall take away all the detestable
things thereof and all the abominations
thereof from thence. 19 And I will
give them one heart, and I will put a
new spirit within you; and I will take
the stony heart out of their flesh, and
will give them a heart of flesh; 20 that
they may walk in my statutes, and keep
mine ordinances, and do them: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their
God. 21 But as for them whose heart
walketh after the heart of their detest¬
able things and their abominations, I
will bring their way upon their own
heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Vers. 17-21. Israel Promised Restoration To Their Own Land
The literal fulfillment of this prophecy did actually take place in thei:
restoration at the end of the Babylonian captivity. Yet it was only ,
partial fulfillment after all. Only a small portion, and these practically
all from the house of Judah, returned.
Then further, while Israel did practically relinquish the practice o
gross idolatry (verse 18), it did not then attain to that newness of hear
predicted in verses 19 and 20. This only commenced with the preachinj
of John the Baptist and with the coming of Christ. The Shekinah glory
had departed (Chap. 9.3; 10.18 and 11.23), the ark was not restored.no
was the second temple strictly inhabited by God until Christ came, wh<
made it more glorious than the first temple (Hag. 2.9): Even then Hi
stay was short, and ended in His being rejected. The full realization o
the promise must then still be future, since the greater portion of Israc
has still that hardness of the stony heart.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
21 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
How much more when I send my four
sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the
sword, and the famine, the evil beasts,
and the pestilence, to cut off from it
man and beast! 22 Yet, behold, therein
shall be left 'a remnant that shall be
carried forth, both sons and daughters:
behold, they shall come forth unto you,
J Hcb. they that escafe
and ye shall see their way and their
doings; and ye shall be comforted con¬
cerning the evil that I have brought up¬
on Jerusalem, even concerning all that
I have brought upon it. 23 And they
shall comfort you, when ye see their
way and their doings: and ye shall
know that I have not done ^without
cause all that I have done in it, saith the
Lord Jehovah.
: Or, in vain
Vers. 21-23. The Judgments of God Justified by the Disobedi
ENCE OF THE PEOPLE.
This chapter from verse 12 to its close tells of the judgment of Jeho
vah upon Jerusalem.
172
EZEKIEL
The " remnant” in verse 21 are not those who save their lives or are
spared by Jehovah because of their righteousness, but those who, after
escaping, go to the captives in Babylon and by their wicked way and
character cause the exiles there to acknowledge that Jehovah was justified
in bringing severe judgment upon both Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
46 And thine elder sister is Samaria,
that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and
her daughters; and thy younger sister,
that dwelleth at thy right hand, is
Sodom and her daughters.
53 And I will ‘turn again their cap¬
tivity, the captivity of Sodom and her
daughters, and the captivity of Samaria
and her daughters, and the captivity of
thy captives in the midst of them; 55
And thy sisters, Sodom and her daugh¬
ters, shall return to their former estate;
and Samaria and her daughters shall re¬
turn to their former estate; and thou
and thy daughters shall return to your
former estate.
J Or, return to
60 Nevertheless I will remember my
covenant with thee in the days of thy
youth, and I will establish unto thee an
everlasting covenant. 61 Then shalt
thou remember thy ways, and be
ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy
sisters, thine elder sisters and thy young¬
er; and I will give them unto thee for
daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant
with thee; and thou shalt know that I
am Jehovah: 63 that thou mayest re¬
member, and be confounded, and never
open thy mouth any more, because of
thy shame, when I have forgiven thee
all that thou hast done, saith the Lord
Jehovah.
Vers. 46,53,55,60-63. The Harlotry of Jerusalem Forgiven.
This portion of the chapter is exceedingly difficult to understand.
Ver. 46. God says that in a sense Jerusalem is worse than her elder
and younger sisters, Samaria and Sodom. They were called her sisters
because they both belonged to the same mother-land, Canaan, and perhaps
more appropriately in a spiritual sense, because they were all animated by
the same spirit of idolatry. In what sense could Samaria be said to be
:>Ider than Sodom? None of the reasons given are at all satisfactory, and
ive are inclined to the explanation of Keil, who takes the words in the sense
:>f “greater" and “smaller", i. e., with reference to the extent of the
dngdoms.
That Samaria and Sodom stand for kingdoms is clearly proven by
the expression "daughters”, i. e., the cities adjacent and dependent upon
the capital.
Ver. 53. This verse announces the restoration of Sodom and
Samaria as well as that of Jerusalem, so that all boasting on the part of
Israel is precluded. You shall be restored, but Sodom and Samaria shall
be restored with you.
But we know nothing of an exile of Sodom. Then, too, in what
sense can Sodom be said to be restored since Sodom and all the cities of the
plains together with their inhabitants were utterly destroyed and sunk into
the depths of the Dead Sea?
Some think that Sodom stands for the Moabites and the Ammonites,
Moab and Ammon being the offspring of Lot. (F. Lap.) But they were
no more Sodomites than Lot was.
173
EZEKIEL
Some think Sodom stands for the heathen. (Ori. Jer. Hav.) But in
what sense could Sodom stand for heathenism any more than Samaria
could.
Some think they stand for the descendents of Sodom, who were
carried captive to Elam in the expedition against Sodom mentioned in
Genesis 14, and for those of Zoar, which city was spared at the petition of
Lot. (Lap.) These descendents were destined to restoration just as it
was also merely the descendents of Samaria and Jerusalem that could be
restored. (Coc. Neteler.) The prophecy in this sense might be said to
have commenced its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost when it is expressly
stated the Elamites were present.
The only other explanation is that of Keil, who contends that the
literal Sodom was meant, and yet he says, “We certainly cannot think for a
moment of any earthly restoration of Sodom", for even if the cities could
be found, how could the inhabitants, who perished in them, be restored,
and, says Keil, "in this connection it is chiefly to them that the words
refer." "Therefore", says Keil, "the realization of the prophecy must
be sought for beyond the present order of things, in one that extends into
the life everlasting, and can only take place on the great day of the resur¬
rection of the dead in the persons of the former inhabitants of Sodom and
her neighboring cities. Not only will the Gospel be preached to all nations
before the end comes, but even to the dead." He thinks that all heathen
nations that died before Christ or departed from this earthly life without
having heard the Gospel preached will still have a chance to hear it and an
opportunity to believe it.
It is difficult to decide with so little data before us, but perhaps that
view which takes Sodom as representing the heathen in general is the more
acceptable.
Ver. 55. "return to their former estate ",—If by Sodom the
Moabites and the Amonites are represented there was a partiaT fulfillment
in the return under Cyrus (Jer. 48.47), and if by Sodom is represented
the heathen the full realization is yet future, says Fausset.
But what is their "former estate "?
It cannot be their wicked state before their punishment to which
they are to be returned in order that they may thereafter be converted.
Keil thinks it is to their first estate in the sense of the restoration of
all moral relations to their original moral constitution, which will begin
by the reception of the heathen world, represented by Sodom, into the
kingdom of Christ and will attain its perfection in the general restoration
of the world to its original glory, the palingenesia. (II Pet. 3.13; Rom.
8.18; Matt. 19.28.) The forgiveness of the inhabitants of Sodom, he
insists, can only take place on the great day of the resurrection of the dead.
If, however, Sodom be taken as representing the heathen in general
(to which view it would seem that even Keil has committed himself), why
may not the "return to their former estate " be a symbolical way of ex¬
pressing the idea of bestowing pardoning grace, as simply relating to the
pardon of Jerusalem and Samaria, the covenant nation, and of Sodom
representing the heathen? If Sodom does not represent the heathen then
of course her pardon must be delayed, if it is to come at all, until the
resurrection day.
174
EZEKIEL
This much is certain under any explanation, namely, that the be¬
ginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy commenced with the establish¬
ment of the covenant made through Christ and with the reception of the
?elieving portion of Israel in Judea, Samaria and Galilee (Acts 8.5; 9.31),
ind with the spread of the Gospel among the heathen and their entrance
nto the kingdom of Christ.
Calvin, and Fausset following him, says we do not have any promise
it all until we reach verse 60, and that verses 53 and 55 mean, When
5odom and Samaria shall be restored, then Jerusalem also will be restored,
. e., neverl This is sustained neither by the letter nor by the connection.
Ver. 60. The unfaithfulness of man can never alter the faithful-
less of God. The reference is not to a new covenant, but to the renewing
>r perfecting of the old one, the fulfillment of the promise given to David
n II Samuel.
Ver. 61. "thou shalt receive thy sisters ’, —This of course means in
his place not only Sodom and Samaria and their daughters, but heathen
lations generally, great and small.
The prophecy goes even beyond Rom. 11.25 presenting, as it does,
lot only to the covenant nation but to all heathen nations the prospect of
>eing eventually received into the kingdom of Christ.
“but not by thy covenant” , —By what grammatical law Keil connects
hese words with “daughters” we fail to see. It must mean either the letter
>f the Old Testament, the covenant of works, upon which the Jews rested
ven while they broke it, or what is still better, the expression must be
aken, as do the majority, as meaning, Not that thou on thy part hast stood
o the covenant, but that I am the Lord; I change not.
:hapter seventeen
22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 1
will also take of the lofty top of the
cedar, and will set it; I will crop off
from the topmost of its young twigs
a tender one, and I will plant it upon
a high and lofty mountain: 23 in the
mountain of the height of Israel will I
plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs,
and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar:
and under it shall dwell all birds of
every wing; in the shade of the branches
thereof shall they dwell. 24 And all
the trees of the field shall know that I,
Jehovah, have brought down the high
tree, have exalted the low tree, have
dried up the green tree, and have made
the dry tree to flourish: I, Jehovah,
have spoken and have done it.
/crs. 22-24. PLANTING OF THE TRUE TWIG OF THE STEM OF DAVID.
Ver. 22. The Lord will fulfill the promise which He had given to
he seed of David. As Nebuchadnezzar had broken off a twig from the
op of the cedar and brought it to Babel (verse 13), but through it the
kingdom of Judah had been brought to destruction, so will Jehovah Him-
elf crop off a tender twig from the top of the high cedar and plant it upon
i high mountain and it shall be a shelter to the whole world and shall be
orever. This tender twig is none other than the Messiah, originally "a
ender plant and root out of a dry ground". (Isa. 53.2.)
“the cedar” ,—i. e., the royal house of David.
“of its young twigs a tender one”, —The idea of the tender "twig"
175
EZEKIEL
or “shoot" or "sprout" indicates not so much the youthful age of the
Messiah (Hit.) as it does His lowly origin.
"a high and lofty mountain \—i. e., Zion, destined, says Fausset,
"to be the moral center and eminence of grace and glory shining forth to
the world, out-topping all mundane elevation. The kingdom, typically
begun at the return from Babylon, and rebuilding of the temple, fully
began with Christ’s appearing and shall have its highest manifestation at
His reappearing to reign on Zion, and thence over the whole earth."
Ver. 23. " and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing”, —Says
Keil, "All the inhabitants of the earth will not only find food from the
fruit of this tree, but protection under its shadow." "The expression",
says Schroeder, "points to Noah's ark of safety, and the meaning is, all the
different nations and families of men upon earth." Says Fausset, "The
Gospel ‘mustard tree’, small at first, but at length receiving all under its
covert."
Ver. 24. " And all the trees of the field” , —These are the collective
ruling powers of the world, the kings and royal families of the earth, just
as the cedar represents the royal house of David.
“high tree . . low tree . . green tree . . . dry tree” ,—The high tree,
Schroeder thinks, points to Jehoiachin and the green tree to Zedekiah.
Keil says that the high and green tree naturally suggests the royal
house of David and the dry tree Jehoiachin, and while these suggestions are
not to be set aside, at the same time the words are not to be restricted to any
particular persons, but are applicable to every high and green, or withered
and lowly tree, i. e., not merely to kings alone, but to all men in common.
According to Hengstenberg the high tree is the worldly sovereignty,
the green tree, Nebuchadnezzar's sovereignty of the world at the time;
while the low tree and the dry tree represent the house of David with special
reference here, of course, to the Messiah.
Thus Fausset says, "All the empires of the world, represented by
Babylon, once flourishing (green tree), shall be brought low before the
once depressed (dry), but then exalted kingdom of Messiah and His peo¬
ple, the head of whom shall be Israel."
CHAPTER TWENTY
33 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah,
surely with a mighty hand, and with an
outstretched arm, and with wrath
poured out, will I be king over you.
34 And I will bring you out from the
peoples, and will gather you out of the
countries wherein ye are scattered, with
a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm. and with wrath poured out; 35
and I will bring you into the wilder¬
ness of the peoples, and there will I
enter into judgment with you face to
face. 36 Like as I entered into judg¬
ment with your fathers in the wilder¬
ness of the land of Egypt, so will I
enter into judgment with you, saith the
Lord Jehovah. 3 7 And I will cause
you to pass under the rod, and I will
bring you into the bond of the cove¬
nant; 38 and I will purge out from
among you the rebels, and them that
transgress against me; I will bring them
forth out of the land where they so¬
journ, but they shall not enter into
the land of Israel; and ye shall know
that I am Jehovah. 3 9 As for you, O
house of Israel, thus saith the Lord
Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his
idols, 'and hereafter also, if ye will nor
hearken unto me; but my holy nanu
'Or but hereafter surely ye shall hearken
unto tne and &*c.
176
EZEKIEL
shall ye no more profane with your
gifts, and with your idols.
40 For in my holy mountain, in
the mountain of the height of Israel.
saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all
the house of Israel, all of them, serve
me in the land: there will I accept them,
and there will I require your offerings,
and the 2 first-fruits of your 3 oblations,
with all your holy things. 41 4 As a
sweet savor will I accept you, when I
bring you out from the peoples, and
gather you out of the countries where¬
in ye have been scattered: and I will
be sanctified in you in the sight of the
2 Or, chief
*Or, tribute
4 Or, with
Vers. 33-44.
nations. 42 And ye shall know that I
am Jehovah, when 1 shall bring you
into the land of Israel, into the coun¬
try which I “sware to give unto your
fathers. 43 And there shall ye remem¬
ber your ways, and all your doings,
wherein ye have polluted your selves;
and ye shall loathe yourselves in your
own sight for all your evils that ye have
committed.
44 And ye shall know that I am Je¬
hovah, when I have dealt with you for
my name’s sake, not according to your
evil ways, nor according to your cor¬
rupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith
the Lord Jehovah.
a Heb. lifted up my hand
The Judgment Upon and the Future Restoration
of Israel,
“The passage", says Scofield, “is a prophecy of the future judgment
upon Israel, regathered from all nations into the old wilderness of the
wanderings. The issue of this judgment determines who of Israel in that
day shall enter the land for kingdom blessing."
Fausset says, “Lest the covenant people should abandon their distinc¬
tive hopes, and amalgamate with the surrounding heathen, he tells them
that as the wilderness journey from Egypt was made subservient to disci¬
pline, and also to the taking out from among them of the rebellious, just
so a severe discipline should be administered to them during the next exodus
for the same purpose, and so to prepare them for the restored possession
of their land. This was only partially fulfilled before and at the return
from Babylon, and its full and final accomplishment is yet future. The
Jews now for long have been actually undergoing such discipline."
Ver. 33. “and with wrath poured out ", —These words, says
Schroeder, strictly exclude any reference to a future leading into Canaan,
because that is a thing of blessing and not of wrath. He appeals to the
later expression, “ into the wilderness of the peoples', maintaining that
this means the conducting of Israel into another exile, an intensifying of
their exile where Jehovah will contend with them. With this Keil agrees;
but this argument is not sufficiently sustained. The wrath may be poured
out on the nations from whom Jehovah's people are delivered, or it may
refer to the judgment upon Israel herself through which she is to pass into
the blessings which await her.
Ver. 34. “o ut from the peoples . . . out from the countries wherein
ye are scattered", —Keil says that this excludes any reference to the then
existing exile, because Israel was then dispersed in one land only and among
one people. (Kl.) But this is not well maintained in view of the extensive
empire of the king of Babylon. (Jer. 27.5.) That there was a partial
fulfillment of this prophecy in the return from Babylon cannot upon this
ground be disputed.
Ver. 35. “ and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples",
—Says Scofield here, “The passage is a prophecy of the future judgment
177
EZEKIEL
upon Israel, regathered from all nations into the old wilderness of the
wanderings. The issue of this judgment determines who of Israel in that
day shall enter the land for kingdom blessing." It is, however, not only
a question as to whether the expression should be so literally construed, but
in case it is thus construed the wilderness ought the rather to be referred
to the desert land lying between them and the land of Palestine, whether
we think of the return as from Babylon alone, or from other nations as
well whither they may have been scattered. (Hit. Ros.) The future
guidance of Israel is depicted as a repetition of their earlier guidance from
Egypt to Canaan, and as their Arabian desert experience was an experience
of discipline preparatory to their entrance into Canaan (for which very
reason the Arabian desert is called the "wilderness of Egypt", whereas it
might, so far as geographical reasons are concerned, be called the "wilder¬
ness of Canaan", because it touched Canaan as well as Egypt), so is the
wilderness experience into which they are now to be led to be one of
discipline.
Keil thinks the expression is a figurative one applied to the world of
nations, from whom the Israelites were spiritually distinct, whilst out¬
wardly they were in the very midst of them and had to suffer from their
oppression. "Consequently", he says, "the leading of Israel out of the
nations is not a local and corporeal deliverance out of the heathen lands
at all, but a spiritual severance from the heathen world in order that they
might not be absorbed in it and so become inseparably blended with the
heathen."
Keil's conclusion is, however, by no means a necessary or unavoidable
one. The " peoples ” are without doubt those referred to in verse 34 and
oaf from whom God says He will bring Israel, and all this passage teaches,
in case it is to be figuratively construed, is that in contrast to the literal
4t wilderness of Egypt” the " wilderness of the peoples ” refers to Israel's
spiritual state or period of trial, discipline and purification while exiles
among these “peoples”.
Fausset says, "The full and final fulfillment is future. The wilderness
state will comprise not only the transition period of their restoration, but
the beginning of their occupancy of Palestine, a time in which they shall
endure the sorest of all their chastisements, to ‘purge out the rebels (verse
38), and then the remnant shall ‘all serve God in the land '. Thus the
wilderness period does not denote locality, but their state intervening be¬
tween their rejection and their future restoration."
Schroeder says that the expression, “wilderness of the peoples”, and
the “bringing out from the peoples” as well must be taken spiritually as
an aggravation of their exile condition, a spiritual experience of it, so that
they should know and feel that they as the people of God were once more
in the wilderness, but not at all in the same sense as before in the old
wilderness wanderings on their way back from Egypt." This is in sub¬
stantial agreement with Fausset.
The difficulty arising ffom the fact that the disciplinary experience
in the “wilderness of the peoples” is after the “bringing out from the peo¬
ples” is relieved by some who adopt the figurative interpretation by
referring the wilderness state to the transition period of discipline from
the time Cyrus first decreed their restoration to the time of their complete
settlement once more in their own land. Either this explanation must
178
EZEKIEL
be adopted or that which takes the language literally and refers the “wilder¬
ness of the peoples' to the desert land lying between Babylon and Palestine,
All things considered, the literal construction is the simpler and by far the
less objectionable.
Ver. 36. Though God saved them out of Egypt, says Fausset, He
afterwards destroyed in the wilderness them that believed not; so, though
He brings the exiles out of Babylon, yet their wilderness state of chasten¬
ing and discipline continues, even after they were again in Palestine.
Ver. 37. “And I will cause you to pass under the rod ",—The under¬
lying figure is that of a shepherd causing his sheep to pass under his rod for
the purpose of inspection and numbering (F. K. Hit.). We think, how¬
ever, its application here is that of the royal sceptre of Jehovah, agreeably
to the expression “rule over " in verse 33. The prominent idea in the
figure being not so much subjection to government (Hen.), nor Jehovah’s
special care and guardianship (K.), but rather that of the closest inspection,
with a view to purification and separation, as is distinctly expressed in
verse 38. (Schr.)
“the bond of the covenant ",—This is no doubt said with an allusion
to the giving of the covenant-law at Sinai after the passage of the Red Sea.
Both the threats of the covenant and the promises are bonds by which God
trains His people, and Israel is to be constrained to glad submission to it.
Ver. 38. As applied to the future restoration the words, “they shall
not enter into the land of Israel ", must be taken symbolically. 4 ‘Even
though they enter Palestine", says Fausset, "it shall be to them an exile
state; they shall not enter into the spiritual state of the restored favor of
God to His covenant people, which shall be given only to the remnant to
be saved."
Ver. 39. This is not a command, but is really a powerful appeal
to repent. It is as if He said, If ye will not serve me, then go and serve
your idols knowing now, as you do, the full consequence.
“and hereafter also ",—This is hardly to be connected with " serve ",
as if God anticipated the same apostacy afterwards (F. D.), nor can it be
closely connected with what follows, as if it meant "and hereafter also, if
ye will hearken to me, profane ye my name no more" (Ma. Ros.). It is
much better to allow it to stand by itself and take the following particle
in the sense of an oath, i. e., verily, and translate "but afterwards (i. e., in
the future) . . . verily, ye will hearken unto me, and my holy name ye
shall no more profane", etc. This is in virtual agreement with the mar¬
ginal rendering, and thus it is taken by the majority.
Schroeder allows the expression to stand with a dash—joining it
neither with what goes before or with what follows, and reads as follows,
‘if ye will not hearken unto me (in the present), then ye shall no more
profane", etc. The meaning, however, in any case is the same: Jehovah
will have no hypocrisy; if they will not give up their idols, they cannot
serve Him, and if they will not serve Jehovah alone, they may serve their
idols, but He will not permit His holy name to be thus profaned by hypo-
critical worship.
Ver. 40. “all the house of Israel, all of them”, —This wording
179
EZEKIEL
seems to point to the healing of the breach between the house of Judah
and that of Israel. Fausset says, “not merely individuals such as consti¬
tute the elect Church now; but the whole nation, to be followed by the
conversion of the Gentile nations
Ver. 41. The people purified by judgment shall be acceptable to
Jehovah as a sweet savour, and in them, as a holy people, the holiness
of their God shall be exhibited to the heathen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
25 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
When I shall have gathered the house of
Israel from the peoples among whom
they are scattered, and shall be sancti¬
fied in them in the sight of the nations,
then shall they dwell in their own land
which I gave to my servant Jacob. 26
Vers. 25,26. Restoration To
Israel.
This, as Fausset would have us believe, was fulfilled in part only at
the restoration from Babylon. The full accomplishment is yet future
when Israel under Christ shall be the center of Christendom; of which an
earnest was given in the woman from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon who
sought the Saviour. (Matt. 15.21,24.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
21 In that day will I cause a horn to
bud forth unto the house of Israel, and
I will give thee the opening of the
mouth in the midst of them; and they
shall know that I am Jehovah.
Ver. 21. Israel's Ancient Glory To Be Revived.
“In that day”, —i. e., primarily in the day when the judgment upon
Egypt is executed by Nebuchadnezzar.
“I will cause a horn to bud forth ",—The horn is the symbol of
might and power. The very downfall of Egypt will be the signal for
the rise of Israel because of God's covenant with her. Her ancient glory
will begin to revive, which, says Fausset, is an earnest of Israel’s full glory
under the Messiah.
The horn which the Lord will then cause to bud forth unto the house
of Israel is not the Messiah, but is the Messianic salvation, and the reason
for thus connecting this salvation with the overthrow of Egypt is that
Egypt, as Havernick says, presents itself to the prophet as the power in
which the idea of heathenism was embodied and circumscribed; or as Keil
says, “In the might of Egypt the world-power is shattered, and the over¬
throw of the world-power is the dawn of the unfolding of the might of
the kingdom of God."
Schmieder has aptly observed that the annihilation of every earthly
power that set itself against the Lord is to the prophet a type of the world’s;
And they shall dwell securely therein;
yea, they shall build houses, and plant
vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when
I have executed judgments upon all
those that do them despite round about
them; and they shall know that I am
Jehovah their God.
Their Own Land Promised To
180
EZEKIEL
judgment. Thus “in that day” looks as well to the future, to what
Hengstenberg calls "an ideal day", to the time of the Messiah, as Ewald
has properly recognized, to the “day of the Lord " of Chap. 30.3, as
Schroeder puts it.
"/ will give thee the open mouth in the midst of them ^Israel)",—
Fausset thinks this means, "When thy (the prophet's) predictions shall
have come to pass, thy words henceforth shall be more heeded."
CHAPTER THIRTY
Alas for the day! 3 For the day is
near, even the day of Jehovah is near;
it shall be a day of clouds, a time of
the nations.
Ver. 3. The Day of Jehovah Drawing Nigh.
The prophet here announces that the day of the Lord's judgment
upon the nations is near at hand, and that it is about to burst upon Egypt.
To the prophet the judgment upon Egypt was the beginning of a world¬
wide judgment upon all the heathen enemies of God.
“it shall be a day of clouds', —The day of the Lord was always a day
of judgment and of taking vengeance. When the dear light of day comes
to be veiled it is because of a threatening storm, and the wrath of God is
thus accordingly conceived as about to break forth.
“a time of the nations', —i. e., for taking vengeance upon them.
(F. K. Schr.)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
Behold, I myself, even I, will search for
my sheep, and will seek them out. 1 2
As a shepherd secketh out his flock in
the day that he is among his sheep that
are scattered abroad, so will I seek out
my sheep; and I will deliver them out
of all places whither they have been
scattered in *the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the
peoples, and gather them from the coun¬
tries, and will bring them into their
own land: and I will feed them upon
the mountains of Israel, by the water¬
courses, and in all the inhabited places
of the country. 14 I will feed them
with good pasture; and upon the moun¬
tains of the height of Israel shall their
fold be: there shall they lie down in a
good fold; and on fat pasture shall
they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
1 5 I myself will he the shepherd of my
sheep, and I will cause them to lie
down, saith the Lord Jehovah. 16 I
will seek that which was lost, and will
bring back that which was driven away,
and will bind up that which was broken,
’Heb. the day of clouds and thick darkness .
and will strengthen that which was
sick: but the fat and the strong I will
destroy: I will feed them in justice.
17 And as for you, O my flock, thus
saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge
between sheep and sheep, the rams and
the he-goats. 18 Seemeth it a small
thing unto you to have fed upon the
good pasture, but ye must tread down
with your feet the residue of your pas¬
ture? and to have drunk of the clear
waters, but ye must foul the residue
with your feet? 19 And as for my
sheep, they eat that which ye have trod¬
den with your feet, and they drink that
which ye have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord
Jehovah unto them: Behold, I. even I,
will judge between the fat sheep and the
lean sheep. 21 Because ye thrust with
side and with shoulder, and push all
the diseased with your horns, till ye
have scattered them abroad; 22 there¬
fore will I save my flock, and they shall
no more be a prey; and I will judge
between sheep and sheep. 23 And I
will set up one shepherd over them, and
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EZEKIEL
he shall feed them, even my servant
David; he shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. 24 And I, Jehovah,
will be their God, and my servant David
prince among them; I, Jehovah, have
spoken it.
25 And I will make with them a
covenant of peace, and will cause evil
beasts to cease out of the land; and
they shall dwell securely in the wilder¬
ness, and sleep in the woods. 26 And
I will make them and the places round
about my hill a blessing; and I will
cause the shower to come down in its
season; there shall be showers of bless¬
ing. 27 And the tree of the field shall
yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield
its increase, and they shall be secure in
their land; and they shall know that 1
am Jehovah, when I have broken the
bars of their yoke, and have delivered
them out of the hand of those that made
bondmen of them. 28 And they shall
no more be a prey to the nations, neither
shall the beasts of the earth devour
them; but they shall dwell securely, and
none shall make them afraid. 29 And
I will raise up unto them a plantation
for renown, and they shall be no more
'consumed with famine in the land,
neither bear the shame of the nations
any more. 30 And they shall know
that I, Jehovah their God, am with
them, and that they, the house of Israel,
are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.
31 And ye my sheep, the sheep of my
pasture, are men. and I am your God,
saith the Lord Jehovah.
*Or, -plant
*Heb. taken away
Vers. 11-31. ISRAEL RESTORED AND THE DAVIDIC KINGDOM SET UP.
Ver. 12. “in the cloudy and dark day”, —Because these words are
apparently taken from Joel 2.2, Hitzig, Klieforth, Fausset and others con¬
nect them with the principal clause and read, “I will deliver them in the
dark and cloudy day out of all the places whither they have been scattered".
But the reason given is entirely insufficient and it is much better with our
text to connect them with the word “scattered”. This is not then the day
of God's judgment upon all nations, the great day of the Lord, but it is,
as Schroeder and Keil observe, the day of dispersion of the people of Israel,
the punishment which befell them through the instrumentality of the
heathen.
Ver. 16. “the fat and the strong I will destroy”, —Another side of
the pastoral fidelity of Jehovah. The image is from fat cattle that wax
refractory. The fat and strong sheep are characterized in verses 18 and
19 and they refer to those rendered wanton by prosperity, the rich and
strong, presumably the rulers and those occupying superior positions of
the nation who oppress the humble and poor and treat them with severity.
Ver. 17. The sheep are now themselves directly addressed. Jeho¬
vah judges between “sheep and sheep”, i. e., between one class of citizens
and another, and will put an end to the oppressive conduct of the fat and
strong ones. He then, by what Schroeder calls an "enlarging apposition",
designates the class about to be punitively judged, “the rams and the he-
goats”, the idea being not that of a separation of the sheep from the goats,
but that the sheep will be separated from the sheep in such a manner that
the "fat and strong" among the sheep will be placed with the "rams and
the he-goats” and kept apart from the others. In the next verse Jehovah
proceeds to address the rams and the he-goats.
Ver. 21. “scattered them abroad”, —Grotius thinks, and perhaps
rightly, that there is an allusion here to the carrying away to Babylon.
Ver. 22. “they shall no more be a prey ",—Says Fausset, "After the
restoration from Babylon the Jews were delivered in some degree from
182
EZEKIEL
the oppression, not only of foreigners but from their own great people
(Neh. 5.1-19). The full and final fulfillment of this prophecy is future."
Ver. 23. " And I will set up one shepherd”, —The Messianic hope
closes each prophetic vision of the future. Compare John 10.14, where
Jesus, doubtless thinking of this prophecy, says, "I am the good shepherd".
That the verse points to the Messiah, who is called David in Isa. 55.4,
there can be no doubt. In Chap. 37.24 (compare Jer. 23.6) it is ex¬
pressly said that the David to be raised up is to feed Israel and Judah, the
two peoples that had before been divided.
“my servant David“, —He is called " servant” not alone with refer¬
ence to the obedience rendered (Hav.), but to the fact of His election
as well. (Hen.) Says Klieforth, "This shoot of David comprehends in
His one person the whole shepherd-offices of Israel, and fulfills them; they
are to be done away with Him, but no other king over the people of God
shall relieve Him."
Ver. 25. " And I will make with them a covenant of peace”, —i. e.,
such as is the natural consequence of the covenant relationship of God.
It is not to be restricted to a covenant which God will make with the beasts
in favor of His people, but the thought is a more comprehensive one and
accords with Lev. 26.4-6, which is to be realized for the first time only
under the Messiah.
Some think the evil beasts are the hostile human potencies and that
the driving of the heathen world from its hitherto domineering position
must be meant (Hav. Hen.); but this is not at all necessary nor a likely
explanation.
Klieforth thinks of a literal return to the paradisical state is the final
fulfillment of this picture.
Ver. 26. “the places round about my hill”, —This is by no means
to be interpreted with Hengstenberg as referring to the heathen nations,
but means just what it says, i. e., the land of Palestine round about Jeru¬
salem. The thought is that God will make both the people and the land
a blessing. (K. Kl. Hav.)
“showers of blessing”, —i. e., the blessing brought by the fertilizing
showers of their season.
Ver. 28. “And they shall no more be a prey to the nations”, —"The
whole passage (11-31)", says Scofield, "speaks of a restoration yet future,
for the remnant which returned after the seventy years and their posterity
were continually under the Gentile yoke, until in A. D. 70 they were
finally driven from the land into a dispersion which still continues."
Ver. 29. “a plantation for renown”, —What they planted should
grow and prosper so as to be a glory for them, and the nations instead of
scoffing at the heretofore fallen and ruined condition of the people would
be convinced from the blessing upon them that they were indeed the people
of God. The reading of our text is much to be preferred to that of the
margin, which Fausset adopts and accepts as pointing to the Messiah. (K.
Wh. KI. Hit. Schr.)
Hengstenberg thinks the reference is to "a renewal of the paradisical
plantation", but not only is there nothing in the connection for this, but
183
EZEKIEL
Chap. 36.99 shows that under these conditions there is to be “the rich
distribution of harvest blessings”.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
In the first fifteen verses of this chapter a message is given to the moun¬
tains of Israel. The address is really to the land, the mountains being
mentioned doubtless in antithesis to the mountains of Seir in the previous
chapter. Because the heathen rejoice that the Holy Land has been laid
waste and fallen to them for a possession, therefore the devastated land
shall be sown again and become fruitful and be given once more to Jeho¬
vah's own people.
8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye
shall shoot forth your branches, and
yield your fruit to my people Israel;
for they are at hand to come.
Ver. 8. Restoration Foretold.
“for they are at hand to come ",—Some explain this in that the
Israelites are about to return to their land, the primary reference being to
the return from Babylon which was "at hand" or comparatively near.
This, however, only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final bless¬
ing being yet future, the restoration from Babylon being but an earnest of
the greater restoration yet to come. (F. Wh. Kl. Hen. Schr.)
However, most commentators say the Israelites are not the subject
to be supplied and that the reference is to the blessings just promised, the
branches and the fruits which the mountains are to bear.
In the next section of this chapter (verses 16-23) the reason is given
why the Lord had scattered His people among the heathen. It was be¬
cause of their incorrigible wickedness and the defiling of their land by sin.
and the necessity, as Fairbairn says, “of God's vindicating the cause of His
holiness by exercising upon them the severity of His displeasure”.
In the last section of the chapter (verses 24-38) the purpose of the
Lord for their future good is unfolded. There comes a promise first of
restoration to their land, then of renewing their hearts to holiness and then
of restoring them once more to a flourishing condition, after which is
noticed the impression which the whole was to produce upon the minds
of others.
24 For I will take you from among
the nations, and gather you out of all
the countries, and will bring you into
your own land. 25 And I will sprinkle
clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean; from all your filthiness, and from
all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26
A new heart also will I give you. and a
new spirit will I put within you; and
I will take away the stony heart out of
your flesh, and I will give you a heart
of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes, and ye shall keep mine
ordinances, and do them. 28 And ye
shall dwell in the land that I gave to
your fathers; and ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God. 2 9 And I will
save you from all your uncleannesses:
and I will call for the grain, and will
multiply it, and lay no famine upon
you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit
of the tree, and the increase of the field,
that ye may receive no more the re¬
proach of famine among the nations.
31 Then shall ye remember your evil
ways, and your doings that were not
good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations.
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32 Not for your sake, Mo I this, saith
the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto
you: be ashamed and confounded for
your ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus
saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that
I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I
will cause the cities to be inhabited, and
the waste places shall be buiided. 34
And the land that was desolate shall be
tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the
sight of all that passed by. 35 And
they shall say. This land that was deso¬
late is become like the garden of Eden;
and the waste and desolate and ruined
] Or, do I work
cities are fortified and inhabited. 36
Then the nations that are left round
about you shall know that I, Jehovah,
have buiided the ruined places, and
planted that which was desolate: I, Je¬
hovah, have spoken it, and I will do it.
3 7 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: For
this, moreover, will I be inquired of by
the house of Israel, to do it for them:
I will increase them with men like a
flock. 38 As the Mock for sacrifice, as
the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed
feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled
with flocks of men: and they shall
know that I am Jehovah.
2 Heb. flock of holy things
Vers. 24-38. Israel's Restoration and Conversion.
Ver. 24. This prediction was primarily fulfilled in the restoration
from Babylon. It is, says Fausset, “ultimately to be fulfilled in the restor¬
ation from all countries whither the Jews are now dispersed".
Vers. 25-38. (See comments under Chap. 1 1.17-19.)
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
This chapter contains two revelations from God. In the first the
prophet is given a vision of the resurrection of Israel to new life (verses
1-14), the latter verses of which (verses 11-14) being the explanation of
the vision contained in the former.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of
man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones
are dried up, and our hope is lost: we
are clean cut off. 1 2 Therefore proph¬
esy, and say unto them. Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up
out of your graves, O my people: and
I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am Jeho¬
vah, when I have opened your graves,
and caused you to come up out of your
graves, O my people. 14 And I will
put my J Spirit in you, and ye shall live,
and I will place you in your own land:
and ye shall know that I, Jehovah,
have spoken it and performed it, saith
Jehovah.
1 Or, breath
Vers. 11-14. The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones Explained.
Ver. 11. the whole house of Israel”, —i. e., both tribes, Judah and
Israel united.
Ver. 12. The vision of the preceding verses is in these verses
(11-14) explained as setting forth the raising up of the nation of Israel
that has been given up to death, although many (Ca. Kl. Jer.) think the
vision was intended to symbolize the raising of all the dead in general,
the resurrection. To the people, speaking as they did in verse 11 the
prophet is told to announce that the Lord will open their graves and bring
them out, put His breath of life in them and lead them back into their own
land.
"/ will open your graves', —i. e., the abodes of their exile, since the
people in exile considered themselves like dead men.
185
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The passage from verses 1 to 10 has been used by the Fathers and
many orthodox commentators as a basis for the doctrine of the resurrec¬
tion from the dead. This may be quite appropriate, but what we are
concerned about is whether it is to be taken as a direct and immediate
prophecy of that great event which is still in the future, or merely as a type
or figure of the waking up to new life of the Israel then dead in captivity.
That it is the latter is seen not only from the fact that in the vision itself
there are certain features to be found that do not apply to the literal resur¬
rection of the dead, but as well from the fact that no other explanation can
exhaust the meaning of the words in the first clause of verse 11.
Of course everybody acknowledges that verses 11-14 predict the rais¬
ing to life of the nation of Israel, and the question arises how this is to be
brought into harmony with the explanation which takes the first ten verses
as a direct prophecy of the resurrection of the dead at the last day.
Jerome thought to resolve the matter by making the words, "these
bones are the whole house of Israel " refer to the first resurrection, the resur¬
rection of the saints. But this, as Keil has noted for us, “cannot be recon¬
ciled either with the words or with the context and has evidently originated
in perplexity".
Klieforth would have us believe that verses 11-14 do not furnish an
explanation of the vision at all, but simply make one application of it to
the resusitating of the Israelitish nation. But certainly this does not do
justice to the words, “these bones are the whole house of Israel ". The
bones in the valley therefore must represent the whole house of Israel alone
and not the resurrection of all men in general.
15 The word of Jehovah came again
unto me, saying, 16 And thou, son of
man, take thee one stick, and write
upon it. For Judah, and for the children
of Israel his companions: then take an¬
other stick, and write upon it, For
Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and 7or
all the house of Israel his companions:
17 and join them for thee one to an¬
other into one stick, that they may be¬
come one in thy hand. 18 And when
the children of thy people shall speak
unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show
us what thou meanest by these? 19
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick
of Joseph, which is in the hand of
Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his
companions: and I will put them : with
it, even with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they shall be
one in my hand. 20 And the sticks
whereon thou writest shall be in thy
hand before their eyes. 21 And say
unto them. Thus saith the Lord Jeho¬
vah: Behold, I will take the children of
Israel from among the nations, whither
they are gone, and will gather them on
every side, and bring them into their
J Or, of
2 Or, together with him unto (or, to be) the
stick of Judah
own land: 22 and I will make them
one nation in the land, upon the moun¬
tains of Israel: and one king shall be
king to them all: and they shall be no
more two nations, neither shall they be
divided into two kingdoms any more at
all; 23 neither shall they defile them¬
selves any more with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with
any of their transgressions; but I will
save them *out of all their dwelling-
places, wherein they have sinned, and
will cleanse them: so shall they be my
people, and I will be their God.
24 And my servant David shall be
king over them; and they all shall have
one shepherd: they shall also walk in
mine ordinances, and observe my stat¬
utes. and do them. 25 And they shall
dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers
dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
they, and their children, and their chil¬
dren’s children, for ever: and David my
servant shall be rheir prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of
peace with them; it shall be an ever¬
lasting covenant with them; and I will
‘place them, and multiply them, and will
5 Or, with a slight change of text, from all
their backsltdings
4 Or, give it them
186
EZEKIEL
set my sanctuary in the midst of them
for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also
shall be “with them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. 28
“Or, over
And the nations shall know that “I am
Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my
sanctuary shall be in the midst of them
for evermore.
“Or, I, Jehovah, do sanctify Israel
Vers. 15-28. The REUNITED TRIBES RESTORED TO THEIR LAND.
In this section of the chapter we have a prophecy of the reuniting of
the two and the ten tribes and the bringing of them again into their own
land.
"It is impossible," says Scofield, "seriously to pretend that this
prophecy has ever been fulfilled in any sense. We have here a promise that
the ten and two tribes shall no longer be divided into two kingdoms, and
that the earthly center of the worship of God shall be in Jerusalem."
Ver. 22. " and one king shall be king to them all”, —The one king
is the Shepherd David, whose reign is to be forever (verse 25). In this
verse the promise first made in Chap. 11.17, and repeated many times, is
made once more.
Ver. 23. " but I will save them out of all their dwelling places ”,—
This has been variously explained.
Hitzig, Hengstenberg and others think the " dwelling places” refer to
their settlements in foreign lands, and that the meaning is that they will
be removed from the scene of their idolatries during the exile in these
lands. Most writers, however, think the " dwelling places” must be those
of Canaan.
Hengstenberg takes the words in a spiritual rather than a local sense.
Jehovah will first purify their hearts and then through their influence the
land round about will be purified and made holy. But the "cleansing" in
the clause before us takes place before the removal.
Klieforth, following the usual application of the words to Canaan,
says the idea is "a leading out of these dwelling places", and therefore
denotes the leading over of Israel from the present Canaan, or the Canaan
of this life, to the glorified, new and eternal Canaan. But Keil has very
properly said that such an interpretation is irreconcilable with the words
themselves and the context, while verse 25 shows that it is not the glorified
Canaan in which they are to dwell, but in the earthly Canaan in which
their fathers dwelt.
Redpath prefers the marginal rendering of our text, "I will save them
from all their backslidings". But this calls for a change in the text,
which is not only unnecessary but hardly justifiable.
Keil, Whitby and others maintain that it means that God will remove
from their dwelling places in Canaan everything that could offer them
an inducement to sin. Jehovah will preserve them from the sinful influ¬
ences of their dwelling places, which in other days had offered them such
inducements to sin through the idolatry and moral corruption of the
Canaanites who were left in the land. This we are inclined to think is
the simple explanation.
Ver. 25. The David, who is Christ, will so rule over the reunited
people that they will not be divided any more into two peoples and two
187
EZEKIEL
kingdoms, and both the dwelling of Israel in Canaan and the government
of David will be an everlasting one, as this verse together with verses 26
and 28 declare.
Ver. 26. “I will make a covenant of peace with them”, —The un¬
changeable covenant of grace so far superior to the old covenant of the
law. This covenant, already expressed in Chap. 34.25, comprehends all
the saving good which the Lord will bestow upon His people.
‘‘will set my sanctuary in the midst of them”, —Whatever further
future reference may be contained in these words, and in the words of this
entire section, it is certain that they find the commencement of their ful¬
fillment in the days of Christ and during this present dispensation.
Hengstenberg says, “This promise has at all events come to be glor¬
iously fulfilled in the election which forms the stem of the Christian
Church."
Jerome says the sanctuary cannot be the temple built by Zerubbabel
because this temple did not stand forever, and all these things are to be
taken as referring to the Church in the time of the Saviour, when His
tabernacle was placed in the Church.
Keil says, “The sanctuary which God will place forever among His
people is the sanctuary seen by Ezekiel in Chap. 40, and this is merely a.
figurative representation of the dwelling of God in the midst of His people
through His Son and the Holy Spirit, which began to be realized at the
first coming of Christ, who ‘became flesh and tabernacled among men'
(John 1.14) and is continued in the spiritual dwelling of God in the
hearts of believers (I Cor. 3.16)."
As to any further fulfillment, Keil continues in the quotation by
saying this dwelling of God with His people “will be completed at the
second coming of our Lord in ‘the tabernacle of God with men' of the
new Jerusalem, of which the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple, since Israel will then first have become in truth the people of God
(Rev. 21.22)."
“The prophecy", says Whitby, “can never be fulfilled except bv
the ingathering of God's spiritual Israel into their permanent inheritance,
the Christian Church and the heavenly Canaan."
“The territory of the blessing", says Fairbairn, “is no longer Canaan,
but the region of which Christ is King and Lord."
“The prophecy is one of the future Church of salvation, the realized
kingdom of priests", says Schroeder, who, with Vitringa, agrees with Keil,
and refers to John 1.14; I Cor. 3.16, and Rev. 21.3; 7.15.
Ver. 27. “My tabernacle also shall be with them”, —“My taber¬
nacle” really means “my dwelling" and should perhaps be so read in the
text. The change in form from the saying concerning His “ sanctuary”
is not unintentional, and the word used is in reality not “ with them”, as
in our text, but “over them", as in the margin. (K. Hit. Hen. Schr.)
Hitzig and Schroeder think the reference is to God’s dwelling place
in heaven over the temple of Jerusalem. But this is rather gratuitous and
takes from the text much of its richness of thought.
Both Keil and Hengstenberg think the reference is to God's “protect¬
ing power", afforded, as Hengstenberg thinks, in the sanctuary of God. or
188
EZEKIEL
perhaps better, as Keil takes it, who says that the expression is drawn from
the site of the temple, towering above the city, and transferred to the
dwelling of God in the midst of His people, to give prominence to the
protecting power and saving grace of the God who rules in Israel.
"All this is the prelude", says Redpath, "to the erection of the sanc¬
tuary and tabernacle in the ideal Holy Land in Chap. 43.7, the same idea
being in Rev. 21.3."
Fairbairn says these prophecies are descriptions of the future under
the form and image of the past—not as if the past were actually to return
again, but that its general spirit and character were to revive.
Hengstenberg says, "The New Testament knows nothing of a future
possession of the land of Canaan."
Perhaps this section of Old Testament Scriptures, as much as any,
is important in helping to decide the question as to how we are to under¬
stand the promises which tell of the restoration of all Israel to Canaan,
to the land given to their fathers and where they are to dwell forever;
whether, in a literal manner, by restoring the Jews to Palestine, or in a
spiritual way, by the gathering together of the Israelites converted to God
and introduced into the kingdom founded by Christ, in which latter case,
Canaan, as the site of the Old Testament kingdom of God, would be a
typical or symbolical designation of the earth wherever the sway and rule
of Christ extends.
The exponents of the literal interpretation expect the Messiah to
restore the Jewish nation to Palestine, re-establish the kingdom of David,
rebuild the temple and once more institute the sacrificial worship of the
Levitical law. Many of the deepest students of Scripture today believe
that this, with more or less variation, is the only consistent explanation
of the prophecies under consideration. Others, perhaps the majority, give
to these Scriptures the spiritualistic interpretation noted above. (See re¬
marks under the last section of Ezekiel’s prophecy, page 196.)
CHAPTERS THIRTY-EIGHT AND THIRTY-NINE
"Gog, in the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,
will invade the restored land of Israel from the far distant northern land
by the appointment of God in the last times, and with a powerful army
of numerous nations (Chap. 38.1-9), with the intention of plundering
Israel, now dwelling in security, that the Lord may sanctify Himself upon
him before all the world (verses 10-16). But when Gog, of whom earlier
prophets have already prophesied, shall fall upon Israel, he is to be
destroyed by a wrathful judgment from the Lord, that the nations may
know that the Lord is God (verses 17-23). On the mountains of Israel
will Gog with all his hosts and nations succumb to the judgment of God
(Chap. 39.1-8). The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will spend seven
/ears in burning the weapons of the fallen foe, and seven months in bury¬
ing the corpses in a valley, which will receive its name from this, so as to
purify the land (verses 9-16) ; whilst in the meantime all the birds and
wild beasts will satiate themselves with the flesh and blood of the fallen
(verses 17-20). By this judgment will all the nations as well as Israel
know that it was on account of its sins that the Lord formerly gave up
189
EZEKIEL
Israel into the power of the heathen, but that now He will no more forsake
His redeemed people, because He has poured out His Spirit upon it.”
(Keil.)
The objections to a literal interpretation of the passage, as given by
Fairbairn, are as follows:
1. The ideal nature of the name God; 2. The selection of the
nations most remote from Israel and therefore most unlikely to act in con¬
cert; 3. The whole spoil of Israel could not have maintained the myriads
of invaders a single day or given a handful to a tithe of their number; 4.
The wood of the invaders' weapons was to serve for fuel to Israel for
seven years; 5. All Israel were to take seven months to the burying of the
dead. If a million Israelites were to bury each two corpses a day, the
aggregate buried in the 180 working days of the seven months would be
300,000,000 corpses; 6. The smell from the unburied corpses, before
they could be buried, would make it impossible to live in the pestilential
stench; 7. The scene of the Lord's controversy here is different from that
in Isa. 34.6 where it is Edom, thus creating a discrepancy; 8. God’s deal¬
ings with His enemies is too grossly carnal for Messianic times. All of
which, Fairbairn thinks, demands a non-literal interpretation, the final
triumph of Messiah's truth over the most distant and barbarous nations
being represented as a literal conflict on a gigantic scale.
Fausset, however, says that though the details are not literal, the
distinctiveness in the picture gives probability to a more definite and gen¬
erally literal interpretation, and that what Ezekial stated more generally,
Rev. 20.7-9 states more definitely as to the antichristian confederacy
which is to assail the beloved city.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
1 And the word of Jehovah came
unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set
thy face toward Gog, of the land of
Magog, the ‘prince of Rosh. Meshech,
and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 and say. Thus saith the Lord Jeho¬
vah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,
‘prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
4 and I will turn thee about, and put
hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring
thee forth, and all thine army, horses
and horsemen, all of them clothed in
full armor, a great company with buck¬
ler and shield, all of them handling
swords: 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with
them, all of them with shield and hel¬
met; 6 Gomer, and all his hordes;
the house of Togarmah in the utter¬
most parts of the north, and all his
hordes: even many peoples with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, yea, prepare
thyself, thou, and all thy companies
that are assembled unto thee, and be
thou a 1 2 3 guard unto them. 8 After many
days thou shalt be visited: in the latter
'Or, chief -prince of Meshech
*Or, commander
years thou shalt come into the land that
is s brought back from the sword, that
is gathered out of many peoples, upon
the mountains of Israel, which have
been a continual waste; but it is
brought forth out of the peoples, and
they shall dwell securely, all of them.
9 And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt
come like a storm, thou shalt be like a
cloud to cover the land, thou, and all
thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It
shall come to pass in that day, that
things shall come into thy mind, and
thou shalt devise an evil device; 11 and
thou shalt say, I will go up to the 4 * * 7 land
of unwalled villages; I will go to them
that are at rest, that dwell securely, all
of them dwelling without walls, and
having neither bars nor gates; 12 to
take the spoil and to take the prey:
to turn thy hand against the waste
places that are now inhabited, and
against the people that are gathered out
of the nations, that have gotten cattle
3 Or, restored
4 Or, an open country
190
EZEKIEL
and goods, that dwell in the B middle
of the earth. 13 Sheba, and Dedan,
and the merchants of Tarshish, with all
the young lions thereof, shall say unto
thee. Art thou come to take the spoil?
hast thou assembled thy company to
take the prey? to carry away silver and
gold, to take away cattle and goods, to
take great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy,
and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord
Jehovah: In that day when my people
Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not
know it? 15 And thou shalt come
from thy place out of the uttermost
parts of the north, thou, and many peo¬
ples with thee, all of them riding upon
horses, a great company and a mighty
army; 16 and thou shalt come up
against my people Israel, as a cloud to
cover the land: it shall come to pass in
the latter days, that I will bring thee
against my land, that the nations may
know me, when I shall be sanctified
in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah:
Art thou he of whom I spake in old
time by my servants the prophets of
Israel, that prophesied in those days for
many years that I would bring thee
B Heb. navel. See Judy. 9.37
against them? 18 And it shall come
to pass in that day, when God shall
come against the land of Israel, saith the
Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall
come up into my nostrils. 19 For in
my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath
have I spoken, Surely in that day there
shall be a great shaking in the land of
Israel: 20 so that the fishes of the sea,
and the birds of the heavens, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping
things that creep upon the earth, and
all the men that are upon the face of the
earth, shall shake at my presence, and
the mountains shall be thrown down,
and the steep places shall fall, and every
wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And
I will call for a sword against him unto
all my mountains, saith the Lord Jeho¬
vah: every man's sword shall be against
his brother. 22 And with pestilence
and with blood will I enter into judg¬
ment with him: and I will rain upon
him and upon his hordes, and upon the
many peoples that are with him, an
overflowing shower, and great hail¬
stones, fire, and brimstone. 23 And I
will magnify myself, and sanctify my¬
self, and I will make myself known in
the eyes of many nations: and they
shall know that I am Jehovah.
Vers. 1-23. The Destruction of Gog and His Great Army of
Nations.
Ver. 2. Gog is perhaps a name arbitrarily extracted from the coun¬
try, Magog, the latter being the name of a people mentioned in Gen. 10.2
as descended from Japheth, being according to tradition the great Scythian
people. The word is used with the definite article, " the ", here and thus
seems to designate the well known people from the time of Genesis. The
title “Gog” may have been a common one for the kings of that country
as the title “Pharaoh" was for the rulers of Egypt.
“Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal ”,—These were all peoples dwelling
doubtless in the country of Taurus, and reckoned among the Scythian
tribes, thus belonging to the neighborhood of Magog. These names
might have been adopted by Ezekiel from the historical fact familiar to
the men of his time, as ideal titles for the foes of the last great and ungodly
confederacy against the people of Jehovah.
Ver. 5. “Cush” and “Put” refer to the Ethiopians and the Libyans,
while Gomer of verse 6 refers to the Celtic Cimmerians, and Togarmah
to the Armenians of the Caucasus south of Iberia.
Thus peoples living at the extreme north and east and south, on the
borders of the then known world, make up the army of Gog. Where are
their former foes, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Syrians, and the old im¬
perial powers of Egypt and Assyria and Babylon? These will all have
passed from the stage of history, and the people of God will have spread
191
EZEKIEL
so widely over the earth that its foes will, as Keil says, be found only on
the borders of the civilized world.
Ver. 7. " and be thou a guard unto them’* ,—Spoken perhaps half
ironically, i. e., if thou canst; for it will be seen immediately how the
matter turns out.
Ver. 8. “After many days thou shalt be visited”, —These words
remind one so vividly of Isa. 24.22 that it is impossible not to see here a
play on the words of that passage. The words are used here as there in
the sense of visited in wrath (K. F. Del. Schr.), " visited” being, as Keil
says, a more general idea than punishment.
Havernick renders the word "missed", or "wanting", in the sense of
their having perished as a result of the battle about to take place. But the
word never has this meaning, and such meaning does not suit the context
either here or in Isaiah.
Redpath, Hitzig, Klieforth and others translate, "thou shalt receive
the command". But neither is this in accord with the context nor sub¬
stantiated by the language. Gog has already, in verse 7, been appointed
commander of the army and is not therefore to be placed in command
“after many days ’.
Hitzig says it is not time to speak of the punishment yet; but
Schroeder replies that the expression means that punishment will begin to
be prepared.
Both Keil and Schroeder explain the visitation as consisting in the
fact of Gog's being moved by Jehovah to invade the land, which was the
initial step in the judgment that was coming upon him.
“After many days’, —These words are defined by “in the latter
years’, and are the same as “the end of the days’, the last time—not the
future generally, but the final future, the Messianic time for the coming
of the kingdom of God. Says Whitby, "The time referred to is the
'terrible day of the end' of which the prophets so often speak."
Fausset gives the words a double reference by way of fulfillment, the
times being those of “the latter years’ just before the coming of Christ—
fulfilled under Antiochus Epiphanes before His first coming, and to be
fulfilled under the Antichrist before His second coming.
“the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of
many peoples ”,— The predicates in these clauses show that in the word
“land” the idea of its inhabitants predominates, for these only could be
“brought back” and “gathered out’’.
“gathered out of many peoples’, —The word “many” Keil thinks
points beyond the Babylonian captivity to the dispersion of Israel in all
the world, which did not take place until the second destruction of Jerusa¬
lem, and which also shows that the "continual waste" spoken of denotes
a much longer devastation of the land than the Chaldean devastation was.
“a continual waste ”,—Says Fausset, "Waste during the long period
of the captivity, the earnest of the much longer period of Judah’s present
desolation, to which the words more fully apply."
Ver. 1 0. ' and thou shalt devise an evil device”, —What this “evil
device is is seen in verses 11 and 12; the attacking God’s people in their
defenseless state.
192
EZEKIEL
Ver. 12. " that dwell in the middle of the earth”, —This is a figura¬
tive expression to be explained by Chap. 5.5, “Jerusalem in the midst of
the nations". Palestine really was the center of the ancient civilized world.
But the expression is hardly to be taken physically; it is rather to be taken
morally, the land most glorious and richly blessed, so that its inhabitants
occupy the most exalted position among the nations, and thus a central
position for being a blessing to the world.
Ver. 13. “the young lions thereof”, —i. e., the daring princes and
leaders.
Ver. 14. “shalt thou know it”, —i. e., that Israel dwells securely,
not expecting any hostile invasion (K.), to thy cost through the punish¬
ment inflicted upon thee (F.). The former explanation is the better, as
the words which follow show. Schroeder thinks the knowing refers to
what rhe questioners of the previous verse had said, i. e., thou shalt know
that just that very thing is true; while Ewald and Hitzig, by a slight alter¬
ing of the text, read, “thou shalt set thyself in motion".
Ver. 17. “Art thou he of whom / spake in old time”, etc., —Gog
and his hosts are here identified with the enemies spoken of in other prophe¬
cies. (F. Wh. K. Schr.) It means of course, Thou art really he, the
affirmative reply to the question being contained in the last words of the
verse, “I would bring thee against them”.
Ver. 19. “there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ”,—
The reference is doubtless to physical agitations with accompanying social
and moral revolutions, according to the customary figurative way of re¬
ferring to such things. (Compare verse 22 with Rev. 8.7,16,21.)
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
1 And thou, son of man, prophesy
against Gog, and say, Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against
thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech,
and Tubal: 2 and I will turn thee
about, and will lead thee on, and will
cause thee to come up from the utter¬
most parts of the north: and I will
bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 and l will smite thv bow out of thy
left hand, and will cause thine arrows
to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou
shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel,
thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples
that are with thee: I will give thee unto
the ravenous birds of every sort, and to
the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field:
for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Je¬
hovah. 6 And I will send a fire on
Magog, and on them that dwell securely
in the 1 2 3 * 5 isles; and they shall know that
I am Jehovah. 7 And my holy name
will I make known in the midst of my
^Or, chief -prince of Meshech
'Or, coast-lands
people Israel: neither will I suffer my
holy name to be profaned any more:
and the nations shall know that I am
Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel. 8
Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done,
saith the Lord Jehovah: this is the day
whereof I have spoken. 9 And they
that dwell in the cities of Israel shall
go forth, and shall make fires of the
weapons and burn them, both the shields
and the bucklers, the bows and the ar¬
rows. and the handstaves, and the spears,
and they shall make fires of them seven
years; 10 so that they shall take no
wood out of the field, neither cut down
any out of the forests; for they shall
make fires of the weapons; and they
shall plunder those that plundered them,
and rob those that robbed them, saith
the Lord Jehovah.
11 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that I will give unto Gog, a place
for burial in Israel, the valley of them
that pass through “on the east of the
3 Or, in front of
193
EZEKIEL
sea; and it shall stop them that pass
through: and there shall they bury Gog
and all his multitude; and they shall
call it The valley of 4 Hamon-gog. 12
And seven months shall the house of
Israel be burying them, that they may
cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people
of the land shall bury them; and it
shall be to them a renown in the day
that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord
Jehovah. 14 And they shall set apart
men of continual employment, that shall
pass through the land, and, with them
that pass through, those that bury them
that remain upon the face of the land,
to cleanse it: after the end of seven
months shall they search. 15 And they
that pass through the land shall pass
through; and when any seeth a man's
bone, then shall he “set up a sign by it,
till the buriers have buried it in the
valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And “Ham-
onah shall also be the name of a city.
Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 And thou, son of man, thus saith
the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the
birds of every sort, and to every beast
of the field. Assemble yourselves, and
come; gather yourselves on every side to
my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you,
even a great sacrifice upon the moun¬
tains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh
and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the
flesh of the mighty, and drink the
blood of the princes of the earth, of
rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bul¬
locks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full,
and drink blood till ye be drunken, of
my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for
you. 20 And ye shall be filled at my
4 That is, the multitude of Gog
"Heb. build
a That is, multitude
table with horses and chariots, with
mighty men, and with all men of war.
saith the Lord Jehovah.
21 And I will set my glory among
the nations; and all the nations shall see
my judgment that I have executed, and
my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know
that I am Jehovah their God, from that
day and forward. 23 And the nations
shall know that the house of Israel went
into captivity for their iniquity; because
they trespassed against me, and I hid
my face from them; so I gave them in¬
to the hand of their adversaries, and
they fell all of them by the sword. 24
According to their uncleanness and ac¬
cording to their transgressions did I un¬
to them; and I hid my face from them.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord
Jehovah: Now will I bring back the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy
upon the whole house of Israel; and I
will be jealous for my holy name. 26
And they shall bear their shame, and all
their trespasses whereby they have tres¬
passed against me, when they shall dwell
securely in their land, and none shall
make them afraid; 27 when I have
brought them back from the peoples,
and gathered them out of their enemies’
lands, and am sanctified in them in the
sight of many nations. 28 And they
shall know that I am Jehovah their
God, in that I caused them to go into
captivity among the nations, and have
gathered them unto their own land; and
I will leave none of them any more
there; 29 neither will I hide my face
any more from them; for I have poured
out my Spirit upon the house of Israel,
saith the Lord Jehovah.
Vers. 1-29, The Judgment Upon Gog and His Hosts Continued.
Ver. 2. " and I will turn thee about " t —i. e., doubtless in the sense
of misleading him.
Ver. 6. ‘‘them that dwell securely in the isles' ,—The judgment
extends to all the heathen nations that are dwelling securely, carelessly and
confidently in their distant homes, extending even to the land of Gog him¬
self.
Ver. 9. “they shall make fires of them seven years", —Whitby says
"seven years" is symbolical of completeness. Thus also Redpath, Fausset
(nothing must be left to pollute the land), Keil, Schroeder and prac¬
tically all.
Says Keil, “The number seven in the seven years as well as in the
194
EZEKIEL
seven months of burying is symbolical, stamping the overthrow as a pun¬
ishment inflicted by God, the completion of a divine judgment." Thus
nearly all.
The reason is not as Havernick says, that weapons of war are irrecon¬
cilable with the character of the Messianic times of peace, but it is the
complete annihilation of the enemy, the removal of every trace of him.
Ver. 11. “the valley of them that pass through on the east of the
sea ",—In place of this Cornill, Whitby, Redpath and others read, "The
valley of Abarim", which leads to the frontier mountains of Israel, over
against Moab, with the great, horrible sulphurous valley of the Dead Sea
at its foot, through which ran the ancient road most traveled by invaders
from the east. But there is no satisfying reason for this interpretation;
nor does it signify "the valley of the haughty ones" (Ew.), nor is there in
it an allusion to the valley of Zech. 14.4 (Hit.), nor the valley of Jehosa-
phat, as Klieforth says. It is doubtless the valley of the Jordan above
the Dead Sea.
We think Keil is right in reading with the margin of our text, "on
the front of" instead of with the text, “on the east of“, for the word
scarcely, if ever, carries with it the meaning of “east”. The burial place,
therefore, as looked at from Jerusalem, the central point of the land, is
probably the valley of the Jordan where is the principal crossing place
from Gilead into Canaan proper, and which is the broadest part of the
valley and therefore well adapted to be the burial place of the slaughtered
multitude.
“And it shall stop them that pass through’, —The burial ground is
to be so large that it will block the way for passengers, the number of
graves, or the impurity and uncleanness of the place causing traffic through
the valley to cease.
Ver. 13. “and it shall be to them a renown ",—Not that it is a
source of honor to assist in such work, nor that they possess the grave of
Gog (Hit.), but because they thereby cleanse the land and manifest their
zeal to show themselves a holy people by sweeping away uncleanness. (K.)
Ver. 14. " with them that pass through ",—The men employed in
the burying were to be assisted by the passers through, by whom is doubt¬
less meant the ordinary Israelitish travelers. These do not belong to the
official burial party.
Ver. 16. Hamonah, the literal of which is "multitude", is the name
of a city presumably built near the burial place, commemorating by its
name the overthrow of the multitude of Israel's foes.
Ver. 18. " all of them fatlings of Bashan” ,—i. e., ungodly men of
might, Bashan being famed for its fat cattle. Grotius has correctly re¬
marked that the names of all these animals, which were generally employed
in the sacrifices, are to be understood as signifying different orders of men,
chiefs, generals, soldiers, etc. (Compare these verses with Rev. 19.17,18.)
Ver. 20. “at my table ",—i. e., the field of battle on the mountains
of Israel.
Whitby and others think by " chariots " are meant riding beasts.
Ver. 25. “the whole house of Israel ",— (See Rom. 11.26.) "The
195
EZEKIEL
restoration of Israel heretofore has been partial. There must yet be one
that shall be universal.'' (F.)
Ver. 26. “And they shall bear theii shame ",—This is not to be
altered into “they shall forget their shame" (Hit. Dat.), but they will be
ashamed of their past sins, and of their unworthiness of God's so great
mercy.
Says Keil, “In order to determine with greater precision what is the
heathen power thus rising up in Gog against the kingdom of God, we
must take into consideration the passage in the Apocalypse (Rev. 20.8
and 9), where our prophecy is resumed."
Plumptre asks, “Will this prophecy ever be realized on this earth, or
must we only look for it in the heavenly city whose builder and maker is
God?"
Whitby says, “the conflict is to be on this earth, and the victory and
peace which follows must be looked for here. It is not, however, a literal
conflict between men armed with bows and arrows who shall be killed
with bolts of lightning, but a spiritual battle between God's people and
the powers of evil”.
Scofield says, “That the primary reference is to the northern European
powers, headed up by Russia, all agree. The whole passage should be‘
read in connection with Zech. 12.1-4; 14.1-9; Matt. 24.14-30; Rev.
14.14-20; 19.17-21. The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow
and Tobolsk) is a dear mark of identification. Russia and the northern
powers have been the latest persecutors of the dispersed Israel, and it is
congruous both with divine justice and with the covenants that justice
should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to exterminate the rem¬
nant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy belongs to the yet future
‘day of Jehovah', and to the battle of Armageddon, but includes also the
final revolt of the nations at the close of the kingdom age."
The time of this invasion is clearly set forth as “in the latter years"
(verse 8), “in the latter days " (verse 16), and it is against the land “that
is brought back from the sivord, that is gathered out of many peoples '.
“This," says Gaebelein, “shows us that the invasion takes place at the time
when the Lord has brought back His people and resumed His relationship
with the remnant of Israel. It must not be identified with the final revolt
at the close of the Millenium, when Satan is loosed for a little season
(Rev. 20.7-9). The invasion which Ezekiel describes takes place at the
beginning of the Millennium, whereas the invasion of Gog and Magog in
Revelation is postmillennial. The judgment upon Gog and Magog as
here described completes and ends the judgment of the living nations at
the beginning of the Millennial period."
CHAPTERS FORTY TO FORTY-EIGHT
Here in vision the prophet is carried back to the land of Israel and
shown the new temple, the new order of service and the new division of the
land among the tribes when they shall have returned. Jehovah had prom¬
ised in the latter part of Chap. 37 that He would place His sanctuary.
His temple, in the midst of them and dwell over them as their God forever.
196
EZEKIEL
The chapters before us now are the realization of that promise. The
magnificent picture begins with the measurement of the new sanctuary, into
which the glory of the Lord enters; it closes with directions for the re¬
division of the land among the tribes and the building of the new Jerusa¬
lem; while between these two portions the form of the ceremonial services
of the temple are set forth, in the keeping of which Israel is to show itself
to be the holy people of Jehovah.
As to whether the vision in these chapters is to be considered as one
to be fulfilled literally, or in a figurative or symbolical way, commentators
differ very widely from one another.
The figurative interpretation has been the predominate one even from
the earliest period of Church history, having been supported by Ephraem
Syrus, Theodoret, Jerome and many others. So generally did it prevail
that L. Cappellus said, 4 ‘That this is a setting forth of spiritual worship
in types and figures, as portrayed in the picture and all the rites of this
temple, which differ greatly from those of Moses, there is not a Christian
who denies; nor any Jew, unless prejudiced and very obdurate, who ven¬
tures to deny, seeing that there are so many things in this description of
Ezekiel's which not even the most shameless Jew has dared to argue that
we are to interpret according to the letter."
In more recent times, however, many of our most learned critical
scholars have not hesitated to champion the literal explanation of this
prophecy, and have not only seen in many of the other prophecies, predic¬
tions of the literal restoration of Israel to the land of Palestine, but in this
one the directions for the rebuilding of a new temple of the future in Jeru¬
salem and the renewal of the Levitical worship in the Millennial age. (Ba.
Au. Vo. Wh. Gab. Hof. Mor. Bro.) A curious combination of spirits in
the flesh! most of whom make the community of God at the Lord's Second
Coming to be an Israelitish one. Scofield would have us believe that the
sacrificial offerings during the Millennium will doubtless be memorial,
looking back to the cross, as the offerings of the Old Covenant were antici¬
patory, looking forward to the cross.
The Jews were not permitted to read these chapters in public because
of the sharp discrepancies between these directions of worship and those
of Moses, and because of the difficulty in understanding them.
That difficulties loom large when literal interpretation is attempted
no serious minded student will deny.
1. The description is imperfectly worked out. There is no mention
of a high priest and there is no mention of the second of the great yearly
Jewish feasts. No satisfactory explanation for these omissions can be
presented.
2. Every attempt to build a temple in the time of Zerubbabel or
Herod utterly ignored these directions, and this, Farrar thinks, shows
clearly that the Jews of those days did not take them literally. Some say
the temple would have been thus literally made if the Jews had fulfilled
literally the conditions set forth in Chap. 43.10,11. But Whitby reminds
us that not one of Ezekiel's successors ever seems to have supposed that it
was Israel's sin that caused the later temple to look more like Solomon’s
than Ezekiel's.
3. It would seem impossible to build such a temple upon the summit
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EZEKIEL
of a mountain. This "very high mountain” unquestionably refers to
the old site of the temple, and this little hill could, it would seem, be only
thus designated in a moral or ideal sense.
4. The stream that issued from the east threshold of the temple and.
flowed into the Dead Sea, in the rapidity of its increase and the quality
of its waters is, as Fairbairn says, unlike anything ever known in Judeai
or elsewhere in the world. To reach the Dead Sea it would furthermore
have to run up hill, and how could it sweeten the waters of this Sea when
this Sea has no outlet?
5. The distribution of the land is strangely supposed to be in equal
portion among the twelve tribes without respect to their relative numbers,
but the land cannot be equally divided by drawing lines east and wesn
equi-distant between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea, for while
these sections would be of the same dimensions north and south they
would differ greatly as to their width east and west. Fairbairn thinks;
there is difficulty also in supposing the separate existence of the twelve
tribes, such separate tribeship no longer existing, and it being hard to
imagine how they could be restored as distinct tribes, mingled as they
now are.
6. The square of the temple (Chap. 42.20) is six times as large as :
was the circumference of the wall enclosing the old temple, and larger than
the whole of the earthly Jerusalem, the boundary of Ezekiel’s temple square
being over three and a half miles, while the boundaries of the whole ancient
city were only about two and a half miles.
7. The city of Ezekiel's vision has an area of between three and
four thousand square miles, including the holy ground set apart for the
prince, the priests and the Levites. This dimension would thus reach
beyond the Jordan river, although this river, in Chap. 47.17, is made the
border line of the same. This is nearly as large as the whole of Judea.
Now as Zion lay in the center of the ideal city, the one half of the sacred
portion extended to nearly thirty miles south of Jerusalem, that is, prac¬
tically all of the southern territory. Yet five tribes were to have their in¬
heritance on the south side of Jerusalem beyond the sacred portion. Where
was the land to be found for them? “It would have required miracle
after miracle’’, says Whitby, “to have made the land ready for such a
temple. God could have done it, but such has never been the divine
method.”
8. But altogether apart from these natural impossibilities is it not
true that the assumption of a literal temple and the restoration of the
bloody sacrifices of Levitical worship is contrary to the spirit and teaching
of the New Testament as set forth by Christ and His Apostles? And are
we not justified by this spirit and this teaching in saying, with Douglass,
“a temple with sacrifices now or in the future would be the most daring
denial of the all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ, and of the efficacy
of the blood of His atonement. He who sacrificed before, confessed the
Messiah; he who should sacrifice now, would most solemnly and sacri-
ligiously deny Him."
“The catholicity of the Christian dispensation", says Fairbairn, “and
the spirituality of its worship seems incompatible with a return to the
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EZEKIEL
local narrowness and 'beggarly elements' of the Jewish ritual and carnal
ordinances, disannuled ‘because of the unprofitableness thereof'."
It is in consequence of arguments like the foregoing that from the
Fathers down the prevailing view of the Christian Church has been that
of an ideal, a symbolical, a spiritual understanding of the vision and that
it presents in grand outline the good in store for God's people during the
times of the Gospel; in other words that it is a vision of spiritual realities
pictorically presented, the historical presentation in temple-form merely
supplying the mould into which it is cast, thus expressing under well-
known symbols certain fundamental and eternal ideas with regard to the
true worship of God.
Even Fausset, a literalist of the pre-millennial school, says, "There
are things in the vision so improbable physically as to preclude a purely
literal interpretation.' The very fact that the whole is a vision, and not
an oral, face-to-face communication such as that granted to Moses, implies
that the directions are not to be understood so precisely literal as those
given to the Jewish law-giver. Perhaps, as some think, the beau-ideal of
a sacred commonwealth is given according to the then existing pattern
of temple-service which would be the imagery most familiar to the prophet
and his hearers at that time. The old temple embodied in visible forms
and rites spiritual truths affecting the people when absent from it. So
this ideal temple is made, in the absence of the outward temple, to serve
by description the same purpose of symbolical instruction as the old literal
temple did by forms and acts. In Revelation no temple is seen, as in the
perfection of the new dispensation the accidents of place and form are no
longer needed to realize to Christians what Ezekiel imparts to Jewish
minds by the imagery familiar to them. The ideal temple exhibits, under
Old Testament forms, not the precise literal outline, but the essential char¬
acter of the worship of the Messiah as it shall be when He shall exercise
sway in Jerusalem among His own people, the Jews, and thence to the ends
of the earth."
Fausset certainly states the matter in a most finely discriminating
way, especially from the standpoint of a believer in Jewish restoration to
the land of their fathers. Yet in adopting a spiritual understanding of
the temple-vision one quite naturally questions whether other Old Testa¬
ment prophecies, especially those concerned with the restoration of the
Jews'to Palestine, ought not also to be understood in a similar way. This
of course does not necessarily follow, as may be seen from the last para¬
graph of the quotation from Fausset just made.
Volck thinks, "it is impossible, without introducing unbounded
caprice into our exposition, to resist the conclusion that, in all such pas¬
sages as Joel 3.16-21, Micah 7.9-13, Isa. 24.1-23 as compared with Isa.
13.9 and Zech. 14.8-11, together with many other similar references, a
time is depicted, when, after the judgment of God upon the power of the
world, Israel will dwell in the enjoyment of blissful peace within its own
land, now transfigured into paradisiacal glory, and will rule over the
nations round about."
Keil, on the other hand, insists that Joel 4.16-21 does not mean that
Edom will become literally a desert, nor that Egypt will, nor that the
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EZEKIEL
mountains will literally trickle with honey. Edom, he says, is a type of
the world in its hostility to God. and so Judea is a type of the kingdom
of God, and all that is taught is that the might and glory of the kingdoms
of this world at enmity with God will be destroyed, and the glory of the
kingdom of God established.
Neither do the other passages prove his point, says Keil, and even if
they did, they do not, he maintains, prove such glorification of Palestine
as taking place before the final judgment; while in Isa. 24.20 it is plainly
said first that the earth will fall and rise no more, after which it is said that
Jehovah will visit it, etc., placing therefore this visiting and reigning in
heaven after the end of all things.
The vision of Ezekiel he understands not as depicting the rise and
development of the new kingdom of God, the church of Christ, but as
Ezekiel sees the temple as a finished building, so the vision sets forth the
kingdom of God established by Christ in its perfect form. It is the Old
Testament outline of the New Testament picture of the heavenly Jerusalem
of the new earth as set forth in Rev. 21 and 22, namely the Father’s house
of many mansions, heaven itself, the city of God coming down from
heaven upon the new earth, built of gold, precious stones and pearls and
illumined with the light of the glory of the Lord, all of which takes place
after the final judgment has been consummated. The tribes of Israel, there¬
fore, which receive Canaan for a perpetual possession are not the Jews after
their conversion to Christ, but the Israel of God, the people of Christ,
gathered from among both Jews and Gentiles; and that Canaan is not the
earthly Canaan between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, but the
New Testament Canaan, the kingdom of Christ whose boundaries reach
from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. And the temple
upon a “very high mountain '' in the midst of this Canaan, in which the
Lord is enthroned and causes the river of the water of life to flow down
from His throne over His kingdom, so that the earth produces the tree ol
life with leaves as medicine for men, and the Dead Sea is filled with fishes
and living creatures, is a figurative representation and type of the gracious
presence of the Lord in His Church, which is realized in this present period
of the earthly development of the kingdom of heaven in the form of the
Christian church in a spiritual and invisible manner in the indwelling of
the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers,
and in a spiritual and invisible operation in the church, but which will
eventually manifest itself when our Lord shall appear in the glory of the
Father, to translate His church into the kingdom of glory, in such a manner
that we shall see the Almighty God and the Lamb with the eyes of our
glorified body, and worship before His throne, and it is this worship
which is described ideally, and quite naturally so, in our vision (Chaps.
43.13 and 46.24) as the offering of sacrifice according to the Israelitish
form of divine worship under the Old Testament.
The question is indeed a most perplexing one. For ourselves it is
difficult to get away from the conviction that a literal restoration to the
land of their fathers is promised to the Jews in the Old Testament Scrip¬
tures, although we find it equally difficult to accept the literal interpretation
of the temple vision.
200
DANIEL
THE BOOK OF
DANIEL
(B. C. 607—B. C. 534)
CHAPTER TWO
31 Thou. O king, sawest, and, be¬
hold, a great image. This image, which
was mighty, and whose brightness was
lexcellent, stood before thee; and the
aspect thereof was terrible. 3 2 As for
this image, its head was of fine gold, its
breast and its arms of silver, its belly
and its thighs of brass, 3 3 its legs of
iron, its feet part of iron, and part of
clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone
was cut out without hands, which smote
the image upon its feet that were of iron
and clay, and brake them in pieces. 3 5
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass,
the silver, and the gold, broken in
pieces together, and became like the
chaff of the summer threshing-floors;
and the wind carried them away, so that
no place was found for them: and the
stone that smote the image became a
great ’mountain, and filled the whole
earth.
3 6 This is the dream; and we will
tell the interpretation thereof before the
king. 3 7 Thou, O king, art king of
kings, unto whom the God of heaven
hath given the kingdom, the power, and
the strength, and the glory; 38 and
wheresoever the children of men dwell,
the beasts of the field and the birds of
the heavens hath he given into thy
hand, and hath made thee to rule over
them all: thou art the head of gold. 39
And after thee shall arise another king¬
dom inferior to thee; and another third
'Or, rock
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule
over all the earth. 40 And the fourth
kingdom shall be strong as iron, foras¬
much as iron breaketh in pieces and sub-
dueth all things; and as iron that crush-
eth all these, shall it break in pieces and
crush. 41 And whereas thou sawest
the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay,
and part of iron, it shall be a divided
kingdom; but there shall be in it of the
strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou
sawest the iron mixed with 2 miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part
of iron, and part of clay, so the king¬
dom shall be partly strong, and partly
3 broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest
the iron mixed with 2 miry clay, they
shall mingle themselves 4 with the seed of
men; but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron doth not mingle
with clay. 44 And in the days of those
kings shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom which shall never be de¬
stroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof
be left to another people; but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that a
stone was cut out of the mountain with¬
out hands, and that it brake in pieces
the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver,
and the gold; the great God hath made
known to the king what shall come to
pass hereafter: and the dream is cer¬
tain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
a Or, earthenware
3 Or, brittle
4 Or, by
Vers. 31-45. The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar and Its Interpre¬
tation.
The head of gold was the Babylonian Empire (verse 38). A "king”
and his kingdom" are used interchangeably, as a rule, throughout the
Scriptures. The dates of this Babylonian Empire were B. C. 606 to
B. C. 538.
It is quite universally acknowledged that the breast and arms of the
image represent the Medo-Persian Empire (B. C. 538 to B. C. 371), and
the belly and thighs the Grecian Empire (B. C. 371 to B. C. 167).
What is the other kingdom, that represented by the legs of iron with
feet and toes of mixed composition?
201
DANIEL
Of some five or six different views of this matter there are but twc>
which call for any really serious consideration:
1. The Seleucid Empire, one of the four divisions of the Greciair
Empire after the death of Alexander. (Zo. Ei. Po. St. Ju. Ma. Ber. Zel.
Gro. Del. Wil. Len.)
2. The Roman Empire. (A. E. F. C. N. K. L. Pu. Zu. Kl. Fu. Bu,.
Au. Vo. Ze. Rob. Jer. Hen. Gab. Bla. Aug. Hav. Hof. Cas. Sta. Joa. The.
Jos. Vel. Men. Gau. Gar. Prag., the majority of the Church Fathers, all the;
expositors of the Middle-age Church, Jewish expositors both before and
after Christ's time, the whole Christian Church for four hundred years
without any contradiction, and, says Zoeckler, a majority of the modems,,
although he himself holds the other view.)
Personally we are convinced that the Roman Empire is the correctr
answer to the question before us; and for the following reasons:
1. The arguments used in favor of the Seleucid Empire are far fromi
convincing;
(a) The ten toes of the image (and the ten horns of the beast
in Chap. 7) represent the ten kings of the Seleucid Empire,
three of whom Antiochus Epiphanes is said to have uprooted.
But neither the ten nor the three can be found. (See Chap..
7.7.)
(b) The distinction between the unadulterated metal of the
legs and the crumbling mixture of the feet and toes have
their exact counterpart in the Seleucid Empire, but not in the
Roman. This may, however, with propriety be held of the
one empire as well as of the other.
(c) Chap. 11 is an acknowledged account of the Seleucid Empire
and the " little horn" of Chap. 8 is acknowledged to be Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes, and it is therefore hard to resist the con¬
clusion that the " little horn" of Chap. 7 refers to the same
person, and the fourth division of the image in Chap. 2 to
the same dynasty.
This sounds plausible at first thought, but it is not neces¬
sarily the case since quite sufficient reasons for interpreting
otherwise will be found as we proceed.
2. One would expect the four big world-powers to be taken in order,
and Rome would thus follow after Greece. The realm of the
Seleucid Empire (the one of the four divisions of the Grecian
Empire in which it is claimed the Antichrist, the " little horn",
Antiochus Epiphanes appeared) was territorially insignificant.
3. The description of the fourth kingdom (verse 40) seems to indi¬
cate a stronger kingdom than any of its predecessors, and this is
especially true if, as all admit, this fourth kingdom corresponds
to the fourth beast of Chap. 7, which with its great iron teeth
was said to be "dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly’’. In
comparison with Rome this could hardly apply to the Seleucid
Empire even under Antiochus Epiphanes.
4. The description of what the fourth kingdom and the fourth beast
are said to do (Chap. 2.40,—"break—subdue—crush", and
Chap. 7.23,—"devour the whole earth, tread it down and break it
202
DANIEL
into pieces") apply most aptly to the Roman Empire, but in no
sense to the Seleucid Empire even during the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes.
5. The division of the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western
kingdoms, as represented by the two legs of the image, favors this
interpretation.
6. The periods of time assigned in Daniel for the fulfillment of the
* various prophecies favor their application to Rome, but there is
absolutely no satisfactory adjustment of them to the Seleucid
Empire. (See especially the exposition of the "seventy weeks" in
Chap. 9.)
7. The vision of John in Revelation is markedly similar to these of
Daniel, the same emblems and even the same phraseology being
employed, and, if they do refer to the same thing, this points to a
time at least far later than the Seleucid Empire. (See exposition
under Chap. 7.)
8. The objections to the view that Rome is intended are not formid¬
able:
(a) The range of vision is too great because the greatness and
the world-historical position of Rome was not known until
400 years after the captivity.
But ‘this applies as well to Greece, and besides it takes no
account of the prophetic character of the vision.
(b) The “stone cut out of the mountain" did not destroy the
Roman Empire, but was rather assimilated with it for more
than one thousand years.
The principal part of this objection is just as true of the
Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire was not destroyed
in B. C. 167 when Antiochus Epiphanes was ruling, and
when it was destroyed in B. C. 65, it was destroyed not by
the " stone", but by the Roman Empire itself. So the argu¬
ment is even at this point. But if the smiting of the “stone"
may be thought of as still future, the objection would then
lose its force entirely.
9. In addition to these reasons the reader is referred to those with
regard to the “fourth beast" in Chap. 7.7.
Keil says, "The opinion that Rome is the fourth kingdom alone
accords without any force or arbitrariness with the representation
of these kingdoms in the visions both of Chap. 2 and Chap. 7,
with each separately as well as with both together".
Ver. 31. “the aspect thereof was terrible ",—i. e., terrible on account
of its size and its brightness.
Ver. 33. “legs of iron", —These represent no doubt the two divi¬
sions of the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western kingdoms. This
Roman Empire conquered the four divisions of the Grecian Empire as
follows: Elyricum and Epirus, B. C. 167; Pergamus, B. C. 132; the
Seleucid Empire (Syria), B. C. 65, and Egypt, B. C. 29. Its beginning
may therefore be said to have been in B. C. 167, and its end, as we know
it, in A. D. 476. Some would date its beginning in B. C. 29, when it
overthrew the kingdom of Ptolmey in Egypt.
203
DANIEL
Ver. 39. ‘‘another kingdom inferior to thee”, —This refers to arr.
ethical rather than to a physical or political inferiority. This gradatiom
runs throughout—gold, silver, brass, iron and clay.
Ver. 40. "all these”, —i. e., the materials already mentioned—gold,
silver, etc.; the reference is not to the former kingdoms as such, but to the?
materials of which they were composed wherever found. Of course the
ultimate reference is to the kingdoms themselves.
Ver. 41. " part of porters' clay and part of iron”, —Showing that
it contains within itself the principle of an increasing disruption.
Ver. 43. " they shall not cleave one to another”, —The word “they”
in each case refers to the people as well as to the kings, and the reference is,
as Keil says, to the vain efforts of the hetrogeneous elements of the fourth)
kingdom to coalesce by juxtaposition or even by intermarriage among'
themselves.
Ver. 44. “in the days of those kings”, —This cannot refer to the
kings of the four big successional monarchies because they are no longer in
existence. Zoeckler, of course, refers it to the contemporaneous kings of
the four divisions of the Grecian Empire. But if the " legs of iron”, the’
fourth kingdom of the image, be the Roman Empire, as we have seem
reasons for believing it to be, then these kings must in some way be related!
to Rome. Some think it can hardly refer to Rome as a single kingdom
because, as they contend, the plural, " those kings”, would then have been
written in the singular. Many think therefore that the most consistent
interpretation is that which refers these kings to the " ten toes” of the
image, representing as they do ten kingdoms with their kings, which must
consequently arise some time in the future when the Roman Empire shall
in a sense have been revived. (F. Au. Gab. Sco.)
"nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people”, —There
are to be no successors; it is to be an everlasting kingdom.
"consume all these kingdoms”, —Not only the fourth, but the pre¬
ceding three as having in a sense been incorporated in it, the whole image
being, as it were, destroyed at once.
Ver. 45. “stone cut out of the mountain”, —This stone is the king¬
dom of Christ. In Matt. 21.44 and Luke 20.18 Christ clearly refers this
Messianic prophecy to Himself and His kingdom.
“without hands”, —i. e., not by human, but by supernatural and
divine means. In answer to the question as to why the “stone” might
not have been the kingdom of Christ as ushered in at His first coming, and
the kingdom it smote the Roman Empire of Christ's time, Scofield remarks,
"The smiting Stone destroys the Gentile world-system (in its final form)
by a sudden and irremediable blow, not by the gradual process of conver¬
sion and assimilation; and then, and not before, does the Stone become a
mountain which fills 'the whole earth'. Such a destruction of the Gentile
monarchy-system did not occur at the first advent of Christ. On the con¬
trary, He was put to death by the sentence of an officer of the fourth
empire, which was then at the zenith of its power. Since the crucifixion
the Roman Empire has followed the course marked out in the vision, but
the Gentile world-dominion still continues, and the crushing blow is still
suspended."
204
DANIEL
“It is important to note", says Scofield, "that the Gentile world-
power is immediately followed by the kingdom of heaven, and that the
God of the heavens does not set up His kingdom till after the destruction
of the Gentile world-system." This same writer further remarks that
"the days of those kings " (verse 44), i. e., the ten kings symbolized by
the ten toes of the image, could not have been the days of the first advent
of the Messiah, because that condition did not then exist, nor was it even
possible until the dissolution of the Roman Empire, and the rise of the
present national world-system.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king
of Babylon Daniel ’had a dream and
visions of his head upon his bed: then
he wrote the dream and told the sum
of the matters. 2 Daniel spake and said.
I saw in my vision by night, and, be¬
hold, the four winds of heaven brake
forth upon the great sea. 3 And four
great beasts came up from the sea, di¬
verse one from another. 4 The first was
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I be¬
held till the wings thereof were plucked,
and it was lifted up from the earth,
and made to stand upon two feet as a
man: and a man's heart was given to it.
5 And, behold, another beast, a second,
like to a bear; and 2 it was raised up on
one side, and three ribs were in its
mouth between its teeth: and they said
thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and, lo, another,
like a leopard, which had upon its back
four wings of a bird; the beast had also
four heads: and dominion was given to
it. 7 After this I saw in the night-
visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, ter¬
rible and I powerful, and strong exceed¬
ingly: and it had great iron teeth: it
devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with its feet: and
it was diverse from all the beasts that
were before it; and it had ten horns.
8 I considered the horns, and, behold,
there came up among them another
horn, a little one, before which three
of the horns were plucked up by the
roots: and, behold, in this horn were
eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth
speaking great things.
9 I beheld till thrones were 4 placed,
and one that was ancient of days did sit:
his raiment was white as snow, and the
hair of his head like pure wool: his
throne was fiery flames, and the wheels
‘Aram, saw
j Ot, as otherwise read, it raised uj> one do -
minion
*Or, dreadul
< Or, cast down
thereof burning fire. 10 A fiery stream
issued and came forth from before him:
thousands of thousands ministered unto
him, and ten thousand times ten thou¬
sand stood before him: the judgment
was set, and the books were opened.
11 I beheld at that time because of the
voice of the great words which the
horn spake; I beheld even till the beast
was slain, and its body destroyed, and it
was given “to be burned with fire. 12
And as for the rest of the beasts, their
dominion was taken away: yet their
lives were prolonged for a season and a
time.
13 I saw in the night-visions, and,
behold, there came with the clouds of
heaven one like unto a son of man, and
he came even to the ancient of days,
and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all the
peoples, nations, and languages should
serve him: his dominion is an ever¬
lasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed.
15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was
grieved in the midst of *my body, and
the visions of my head troubled me. 1 6
I came near unto one of them that stood
by, and asked him the truth concerning
ail this. So he told me, and made me
know the interpretation of the things.
17 These great beasts, which were four,
are four kings, that shall arise out of the
earth. 18 But the saints of the Most
High shall receive the kingdom, and
possess the kingdom for ever, even for
ever and ever. 19 Then I desired to
know the truth concerning the fourth
beast, which was diverse from all of
them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth
were of iron, and its nails of brass:
6 Aram. to the burning of fire
•Aram, the sheath
205
DANIEL
which devoured, brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with its feet; 20
and concerning the ten horns that were
on its head, and the other horn which
came up, and before which three fell,
even that horn that had eyes, and a
mouth that spake great things, whose
look was more stout than its fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made
war with the saints, and prevailed
against them, 22 until the ancient of
days came, and judgment was given 7 to
the saints of the Most High, and the
time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom.
23 Thus he said. The fourth beast
shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all the king¬
doms, and shall devour the whole earth,
and shall 8 tread it down, and break it
in pieces. 24 And as for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom shall ten kings
7 Or, for
8 Or, thresh it
arise: and another shall arise after them;
and he shall be diverse from the former,
and he shall put down three kings.
25 And he shall speak words against
the Most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the Most High; and he shall
think to change the times and the law;
and they, shall be given into his hand
until a time and times and half a time.
26 But the judgment shall be set, and
they shall take away his dominion, to
consume and to destroy it unto the end.
27 And the kingdom and the dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdoms under
the whole heaven, shall be given to the
people of the saints of the Most High:
his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey
him. 28 B Here is the end of the mat¬
ter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts
much troubled me, and my ^countenance
was changed in me: but I kept the mat¬
ter in my heart.
9 Arara. Hitherto
10 Aram. brightness
Vers. 1-28. The Vision of the Four Beasts and Its Interpre
TATION.
This vision of Daniel's without doubt refers to the same thing as
Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Chap 2. (See Hos. 13.7,8.)
Ver. 2. "the great sea", —The Mediterranean, as typifying the sea
of heathen nations, the mere unorganized mass of mankind, the political
sea.
"the four winds", —Used in keeping with the four beasts and refer¬
ring to actual winds as representing the heavenly powers and forces by
which God sets the nations of the world in motion.
Ver. 3. "four great beasts", —These great beasts are four kings
(verse 17) used interchangeably with the four kingdoms represented by
their reign.
"came up from the sea", —Verses 6 and 7 show that they came up
successively and were not therefore simultaneous kingdoms.
Ver. 4. "The first was like a lion" ,—This refers to the Babylonian
Empire with Nebuchadnezzar as king. Elsewhere Nebuchadnezzar is
likened to a lion in strength (Jer. 4.7; 3.6; 49.19; 50.17) and to an
eagle for swiftness (Jer. 48.40; 49.22; Lam. 4.19; Hab. 1.8; Ezk. 17.3,
12; 27.2).
"the wtngs thereof were plucked", —Its power of unrestrained motion
was taken from it.
"lifted up from the earth ",—To which it had been confined after
having been stripped of its power.
made to stand upon two feet as a man .... and a man's heart was
given to it", —This is a reference no doubt to Nebuchadnezzar's derange¬
ment and restoration from the same, and emphasizing the greater
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DANIEL
moderation and humanity of the Babylonian Empire after the king's
restoration. (K. F. Zo. Rob.)
Ver. 5. "a second like to a bear’, —This is to be taken by common
consent as referring to the JVIedo-Persian Empire.
“it was raised up on one side”, —i. e., ready to spring, the reference
seing doubtless to its rapacious and warlike attitude, as Zoeckler says. It
nay also be taken as meaning that the brute was leaning sideways, with a
eference to its weak and tottering condition (Kr. Ew. Hit.), or it may be
:aken, with Keil and Delitzsch, as meaning that the feet and shoulders of
>ne side were raised as if going forward, representing the double sidedness
>f the empire, the weak and resting Median and the strong and aggressive
Persian.
“three ribs were in its mouth”, —These refer no doubt to Babylon,
Egypt and Lydia, which kingdoms were conquered by the Medo-Persian
jower. (N. K. Zo. Eb. Hof.)
“and they said”, —Doubtless the angel powers.
“devour much flesh”, —i. e., subdue many nations.
Ver. 6. “another like a leopard”, —This likewise by common con-
ent is to be taken as referring to the Grecian (Macedonian) Empire.
“four wings of a bird”, —Pointing to the rapidity of the Grecian
onquests.
“the beast had also four heads”, —Referring to the four divisions
vhich were embraced in the Grecian kingdom and into which it was divided
ipon the death of its king, Alexander. (Chap. 8.21,22.)
Ver. 7. “a fourth beast”, —This beast is acknowleged by all to
efer to the same kingdom as that represented by the “legs of iron” in the
r ision of Chap. 2.40.
“stamped with its feet”, —i. e. f with its legs of iron.
“the residue” ,—i. e., what it could not devour and break.
“and it had ten horns”, —These horns and the ten toes of the image
>f Chap. 2 refer to the same thing.
This “fourth beast” is said to be either the Seleucid Empire or the
loman Empire, according to the interpretation given to “the legs of iron”
>f the image in Chap. 2. (See authorities quoted there.)
The following arguments in favor of the Roman Empire seem rather
onclusive:
1. One would naturally expect the four big world-powers to be
aken in order and Rome would follow after Greece.
2. This beast was the most terrible of all and subdued the whole
arth, and no one king of the Seleucid Empire or of any of the four divi-
ions of the Grecian Empire answers either of these descriptions.
3. Greece did not have ten horns. In Chap. 8 it had four horns
nd in this chapter it has four heads, and to make the fourth beast the
ieleucid Empire means to make it the tenth horn of the fourth head, which
tead this beast is not represented as having. This beast with its one head
tad itself ten horns.
4. Those who make Antiochus Epiphanes the “little horn” and the
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DANIEL
eleventh king, cannot find the first ten. You can find seven, and then the
three he is said to have unrooted would have to be Demetrius, the twelve-
year-old heir who never was on the throne; Heliodorus, the usurper, who
was on the throne but the briefest while, and Philometer, who also never
was on the throne.
5. It is simply impossible to refer verses 9-14 and 22-28 to anything
that occurred in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (B. C. 164), or even at
the close of the Seleucid Empire in B. C. 68.
6. If the vision refers to the same thing as the image of Chap. 2,
then, as pointed out there, the “legs of iron’ representing the eastern and
western divisions favor the interpretation that points to the Roman Empire.
7. Pusey, who favors the Roman Empire, says, “The ten horns are
ten kingdoms which shall issue ouf of it and must therefore be kingdoms
which should arise at some later stage of its existence and not those first
kings without which it could not be a kingdom at all".
8. The beast in Revelation 13 is generally believed to be identical
with this one, and if it is, we must note the fact that Rev. 17.12 says the
kings “have as yet received no kingdom”, and therefore the reference here
cannot be to any kingdom prior to the Revelation date.
9. The ten horns or kingdoms are to be contemporaneous and are to
continue on together until the eleventh, or “little horn” shall have risen up
among them.
10. See also the arguments under “the legs of iron” of Chap. 2.
“ten horns”, —Ten kings, as interpreted in verse 24.
1. To those who say the ten kings of the Seleucid Empire are here
meant it is enough to refer the fourth of the preceding arguments.
2. To those who contend that ten is a round, symbolic number indi¬
cating a multiplicity of kings and that it is useless to attempt a specific
interpretation, it is enough to reply that if the other figures are to be taken
literally, this one, ten, ought also to be so taken.
3. Hengstenberg and many others (Lut. Ger.) say they are the ten
kingdoms that resulted from the invasion of the Roman Empire from the
north, namely, Syria, Asia, Egypt, Africa, Greece, Italy, Germany, France,
Spain and England.
4. It seems, however, best to consider them as ten kingdoms yet to
come—the Roman Empire in a sense still existing and to be revived. (F.
K. Jer. Ira. Rob. Treg. Sco. Gab. Bla. Tor.)
Ver. 8. “Another horn, a little one”, —Literally “the horn of little -
ness”—little in its beginning but becoming greater than them all (verse
20 ).
By some this “little horn” is referred historically to Antiochus Epi¬
phanes and typically to the Antichrist of the New Testament (Zo. Po.
Ju. Wil.). But if the “fourth beast” refers to Rome, as we are inclined to*
think it does, then the “little horn” must refer directly to the eschatological'
Antichrist of the New Testament (II Thess. 2.3,4). (E. K. Eb. Pu. Au..
Zu. Ew. Hav. Hen. Rob. Jer. Sco. Bla. Tor. and nearly all the Church 1
Fathers as well as nearly all Roman Catholic writers.)
By those who refer the “little horn” to Antiochus Epiphanes the
“fourth beast” is said to be the Seleucid Empire with its ten kings, the lasti
208
DANIEL
three of which were uprooted by Antiochus Epiphanes. Then Daniel sees
God on His throne preparing judgment and sending it down upon Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes because of his great and blasphemous words (verse II).
Then in verse 1 3 the Son of man comes to God, the Ancient of days, and
gets an everlasting kingdom, the reference being to the kingdom received by
Christ at His first coming which is the same as the “saints possessing the
kingdom ” (verses 18 and 23). Then Daniel asks for more information
about the fourth beast and was given a vision of this beast making war
against the saints until Messiah came (His first coming) and gave justice
to the saints, who then came into possession of the kingdom, as above
stated. The angel then reveals to Daniel how the “little horn“ “shall
subdue three kings", speak blasphemous words against God, wear out the
•aints, change times and laws and persecute the saints three and a half
years until judgment is meted out to him, as it was in his death.
We have already mentioned reasons which seem sufficiently strong to
invalidate this scheme of interpretation.
“three of the first horns plucked up by the roots*, —Those accepting
Antiochus Epiphanes as the historical fulfillment of the prophecy concern¬
ing the “little horn" must of course refer the horns “plucked up" to De¬
metrius, Heliodorus and Philometer, but we have already seen why this
reference is scarcely to be admitted.
Calvin and some few others think that “three" should be taken as
an indefinite number meaning many, but there is no sufficient reason for
this, and it is best therefore to take it as a definite number meaning precisely
three. (Bi. Me. Os. Pf. Jer. Mel. Bui. Rule.)
“eyes like the eyes of a man", —Showing that he was not some celes¬
tial being.
“a mouth speaking great things", —i. e., magnifying himself and
'speaking words against the most high" (verse 25).
Ver. 9. “anctent of days*, —This expression is by many referred
:o Christ. (Oe. Gab. Cum. Rob. and others.) But the great majority
rightly refer it to God, the everlasting Father. (K. F. Zo. Kr.) It thus
harmonizes with the same expression in verse 13 where it refers without
ioubt to God.
Fausset says, “The Son would not judge in His own case, this cause
peing the one at issue with the Antichrist”, while Irving says, “It is God
judging the arch-enemy of His Son and preparing the way for the coming
)f His Son in the clouds of heaven.”
thrones were placed", —i. e., set up. Note the plural. Inasmuch
is the ancient of days" seems here the rather to indicate God than Christ,
hese thrones, it would appear, were not for the glorified saints, as Light-
oot and others take them, but for the angels of God, as Keil and Zoeckier
vould have us believe. (See Ps. 89.8.)
His throne was fiery flames ',—God’s judgments are swift like rapid
lames.
the wheels thereof", —Oriental thrones moved on wheels.
Ver. 10. The thousands mentioned are His angels who stood before
)im to serve.
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DANIEL
Ver. 11. The execution on earth of the judgment pronounced in
the heavenly court.
“because of the voice of the great words”, —Thus it is seen that it is
the insolent rebellion of the little horn which is the cause and the occasion
of the judgment.
“till the beast was slain”, —Jerome and expositors in general, both
Catholic and Protestant, interpret this as the destruction of the Antichrist
at the second coming of Christ. Calvin indeed says, "All Christian expos¬
itors agree in treating the prophecy as relating to the final day of Christ’s
advent".
Others, of course, consistent with their former interpretations, explain
this reference as pointing on typically to the Antichrist of the end of the
age and to his kingdom, and see in its main reference that which points to
Antiochus Epiphanes and the Seleucid Empire.
Ver. 12. This verse does not mean that “the rest of the beasts’
continued to exist after the destruction of the fourth one, but that although
deprived of their dominion they had continued to exist in certain fragmen
tary form along side of the fourth and were involved in a common ruin
by the Messianic judgment just as the image of Chap. 2 was all destroyed
at once. (K. N. Zo. Kr.)
Ver. 13. "one like unto a son of man”, —Jesus persistently called
Himself the Son of man. Fausset calls attention to the fact that it is a
title always associated with the second coming of Christ.
“with the clouds of heaven” ,—This is referred by most commenta¬
tors to the second coming of Jesus to judgment.
Ver. 18. “the saints of the most High”, —These are not the angels
of verses 10 and 1 6, but the people of God. But what people of God?
1. The glorified saints. (Oe. Rob.) But this cannot be, for verses
21 and 25 say that the “little horn” makes war on them and wears them
out. They must therefore be God's people on earth. Verse 27 says the
kingdom is “under the whole heaven ".
2. The people of Christ, the Church, the members of the house of
Israel in its ideal, spiritual significance. (C. F. Zo. Ew. Lee, Bush.) If
it is found that the Church is to pass through the Great Tribulation this
explanation is quite plausible and probably the correct one.
3. Daniel's own people, the converted and God-fearing portion of
them who are supposed to be on the earth after the Church has been caught
away. (Au. Gab. Hof. Hit. Ber. Len.) If the Church does not go
through the Great Tribulation, this explanation is without doubt the
true one.
Ver. 21. “made war with the saints”, —A special feature connected
with the devouring, breaking, stamping.
“prevailed against them” ,—Not ultimately, but only until the ancient
of days came, which expression in the next verse refers without question
to Christ Himself.
Ver.22. “judgment was given to the saints of the Most High”,—
The word “judgment” here includes the idea not only of justice but of
rule as well.
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DANIEL
Ver. 23. It is exceedingly difficult to refer the latter clauses of this
verse to Antiochus Epiphanes because it cannot very appropriately be said
to have been true of him.
Ver. 24. “out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise”, —Scofield says,
“In the beast vision of Daniel 7 the fourth beast is declared to be ‘the
fourth kingdom', i, e., the Roman Empire, the ‘iron' kingdom of Daniel 2.
The ‘ten horns’ upon the fourth beast (Roman Empire), verse 7, are de¬
clared to be ‘ten kings that shall arise’ (verse 24) answering to the ten
toes of the image vision of Daniel 2. The ten kingdoms, covering the
regions formerly ruled by Rome, will constitute, therefore, the form in
which the fourth or Roman Empire will exist when the whole fabric of
Gentile world-dominion is smitten by the ‘stone cut out without hands',
i. e., Christ."
"put down three kings” ,— (See the remarks on verse 8.)
Ver. 25. “ change the times and the law”, —The prerogative of
God alone, blasphemously assumed by this individual. The “times and
the law” refer to the legally appointed religious celebrations or ordinances
in general, as determined by God; the great annual feasts, the monthly
and also the weekly, Sabbaths, new-moons, etc. The ultimate realization
of this must be looked for in the last times according to II Thess. 2.4;
Rev. 18.8,11, even though its immediate historical fulfillment be found in
Antiochus Epiphanes, to which latter, however, as we have seen, the
prophecy can hardly with consistency be made to refer.
”they shall be given into his hand”, —i. e., the saints of the Most
High given into his hand to be persecuted.
"until a time and times and half a time”, —According to frequent
Chaldee usage the plural is put for the dual, and “times” means "two
times", and the whole is equivalent to three and one-half.
Zoeckler says, "It must remain an open question whether ordinary
calendar years are intended, or, what is scarcely less probable in itself,
whether mystical periods are referred to, which are measured by a standard
not known to men, but only to God." Zoeckler explains the symbolical
reference of this time period by saying it is half of seven, seven standing for
the whole. And just as the seven years passed in lycanthropy by Nebu¬
chadnezzar were to be taken symbolically as representing an extended
period, so this expression means a period of suffering shortened by one-
half, and carries in it the same idea as that expressed by the Saviour when
He said the season of tribulation would be shortened for the elect's sake.
But we can hardly be satisfied with the inadequate explanation by this
puzzled expositor of these sharply defined and often reiterated statements
of time with reference to the events which are here predicted.
Keil likewise has contended against a literal interpretation of these
chronological data, but he has of course been driven to this by his theory
that this whole prophecy applies to the duration of the Roman Empire.
The only satisfactory explanation of the expression is to take it in a literal
sense, as meaning three years and a half, whether it be applied to Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes, as Zoeckler applies it (and even here the difficulty of
reconciling the statement with events connected with the suffering of Israel
under this Syrian despot are not so formidable as Zoeckler supposes), or
whether it be applied, as we think it should be, to the suffering under the
211
DANIEL
Antichrist of the end-time. The reference is to be explained in harmony
with the same expression in the twelfth chapter. The modern interpre¬
ters who hold to the “year-for-a-day” theory refer this "little horn” of
this chapter, some to the papacy and others to Mohammedanism. There
is, however, no really good and convincing evidence anywhere in Daniel
of such a symbolical use of the word “day".
Zoeckler says, “This prophecy of the affliction of Israel during threi
and one-half years prior to its deliverance had a typical fulfillment in th<
history of Antiochus Epiphanes, but its final realization is reserved for th<
eschatological future."
Ver. 26. “unto the end”, —i. e., unto the end of the God-opposec
world-power, which is to mark the end of the heathen world-power as ;
whole, and coincides with the erection of the kingdom of God.
Ver. 27. "the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of th
kingdoms ”,—The dominion, power and greatness possessed by all th
heathen kingdoms is intended, and these are to be conferred on Messiah’
kingdom.
“under the whole heaven”, —This, says Fausset, shows it to be
kingdom on earth, and not in heaven.
"his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom ”,—Says Fausset, “If ever
lasting, how can the kingdom here refer to the Millennial one? Answei
Daniel saw the whole time of future blessedness as one period, the Millen
nium and the time of the new heavens and new earth. Christ's kingdor
is everlasting. Not even the last judgment shall end it, but only give it
more glorious appearance, the new Jerusalem coming down from God ov
of heaven, with the throne of God and the Lamb in it."
Ver. 28. “Here is the end of the matter”, —i. e., here is the end c
the remarks of the interpreter, the conclusion of which coincides with tb
end of the dream.
“my thought troubled me”, —i. e., after waking from his dream
vision. It shows perhaps that the Holy Spirit intended much more to b
understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself perhaps understooc
“We are not", says Fausset, “to limit the significance of prophecies to wha
the prophets themselves understood." Many a seer has spoken wise
than he knew.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 In the third year of the reign of
king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto
me, even unto me, Daniel, after that
which appeared unto me at the first. 2
And I saw in the vision; now it was
so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan
the ’palace, which is in the province of
Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I
was by the river Ulai. 3 Then I lifted
up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold,
there stood before the river a ram which
had two horns; and the two horns were
’Or, castle
high; but one was higher than the other,
and the higher came up last. 4 I saw
the ram pushing westward, and north¬
ward, and southward; and no beasts
could stand before him, neither was
there any that could deliver out of his
hand; but he did according to his will,
and magnified himself.
5 And as I was considering, behold,
a he-goat came from the west over the
face of the whole earth, and touched
not the ground; and the goat had a
*’Heb. none touched the ground
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DANIEL
notable horn between his eyes. 6 And
he came to the ram that had the two
horns, which I saw standing before the
river, and ran upon him in the fury of
his power. 7 And I saw him come
close unto the ram, and he was moved
with anger against him, and smote the
ram, and brake his two horns; and there
was no power in the ram to stand be¬
fore him: but he cast him down to the
ground, and trampled upon him, and
there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand. 8 And the he-
goat magnified himself exceedingly: and
when he was strong, the great horn was
broken; and instead of it there came up
four notable horns toward the four
winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth
a little horn, which waxed exceeding
great, toward the south, and toward the
east, and toward the glorious land. 10
And it waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and some of the host and of the
stars it cast down to the ground, and
trampled upon them. 11 Yea, it mag¬
nified itself, even to the prince of the
host; and *it took away from him the
continual burnt-offering, and the place
of his sanctuary was cast down. 12
And 4 the host was given over to it to¬
gether with the continual burnt-offering
through transgression; and it cast down
truth to the ground, and it did its pleas¬
ure and prospered. 13 Then I heard a
holy one speaking; and another holy
one said unto that certain one who
spake, How long shall be the vision
concerning the continual burnt-offering,
^nd the transgression that maketh deso¬
late, to give both the sanctuary and the
host to be trodden under foot? 14 And
he said unto me, Unto two thousand
and three hundred evenings and morn¬
ings; then shall the sanctuary be
"cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even
Daniel, had seen the vision, that I
•Another reading is, the continual burnt-offer-
m* was taken away from him
*Or, a host was given to it against the &*c.,
1 ■ a host was set over the &*c.
“Heb. justified.
sought 8 to understand it; and, behold,
there stood before me as the appearance
of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s
voice between the banks of the Ulai,
which called, and said, Gabriel, make
this man to understand the vision. 1 7
So he came near where I stood; and
when he came, I was affrighted, and fell
upon my face: but he said unto me.
Understand, O son of man; for the
vision belongeth to the time of the end.
18 Now as he was speaking with me,
I fell into a deed sleep with my face
toward the ground; but he touched me,
and set me ^upright. 19 And he said,
Behold, I will make thee know what
shall be in the latter time of the indig¬
nation; for it belongeth to the appointed
time of the end. 20 The ram which
thou sawest, that had the two horns,
they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough he-goat is the king of
Greece: and the great horn that is be¬
tween his eyes is the first king. 22 And
as for that which was broken, in the
place whereof four stood up, four king¬
doms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not with his power. 23 And in the
latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a
king of fierce countenance, and under¬
standing dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but
not 8 by his own power; and he shall
“destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper
and do his pleasure ; and he shall
“destroy the mighty ones and 10 the holy
people. 25 And through his policy he
shall cause craft to prosper in his hand:
and he shall magnify himself in his
heart, and in their security shall he “de¬
stroy many: he shall also stand up
against the prince of princes; but he
shall be broken without hand. 26 And
the vision of the evenings and mornings
which hath been told is true: but shut
thou up the vision; for it belongeth to
many days to come.
°Heb. understanding
’Or, where / had stood
B Or, with his -power. See ver. 22.
6 Or, corrupt
10 Heb. people of the saints
Vers. 1-26. VISION OF THE DESECRATING HORN AND ITS INTER¬
PRETATION.
Ver. 3. “a ram which had two horns ",—The ram stands for the
kingdom of Media-Persia, the short horn referring to Media and the long
one to Persia. (See verse 20.)
Ver. 4. The ram did not push eastward, not because Media-Persia
came from the east (F. Kr. Len.), nor because the east already belonged to
Media-Persia (Zo.), nor because their conquests did not extend in that
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DANIEL
Antichrist of the end-time. The reference is to be explained in harmony
with the same expression in the twelfth chapter. The modern interpre¬
ters who hold to the "year-for-a-day” theory refer this " little horn" of
this chapter, some to the papacy and others to Mohammedanism. There
is, however, no really good and convincing evidence anywhere in Daniel
of such a symbolical use of the word "day”.
Zoeckler says, "This prophecy of the affliction of Israel during three
and one-half years prior to its deliverance had a typical fulfillment in the
history of Antiochus Epiphanes, but its final realization is reserved for the
eschatological future.”
Ver. 26. "unto the end", —i. e., unto the end of the God-opposed
world-power, which is to mark the end of the heathen world-power as a
whole, and coincides with the erection of the kingdom of God.
Ver. 27. " the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the
kingdoms", —The dominion, power and greatness possessed by all the
heathen kingdoms is intended, and these are to be conferred on Messiah's
kingdom.
"under the whole heaven", —This, says Fausset, shows it to be a
kingdom on earth, and not in heaven.
"his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom", —Says Fausset, "If ever¬
lasting, how can the kingdom here refer to the Millennial one? Answer.
Daniel saw the whole time of future blessedness as one period, the Millen¬
nium and the time of the new heavens and new earth. Christ’s kingdom
is everlasting. Not even the last judgment shall end it, but only give it a
more glorious appearance, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out
of heaven, with the throne of God and the Lamb in it.”
Ver. 28. "Here is the end of the matter", —i. e., here is the end of
the remarks of the interpreter, the conclusion of which coincides with the
end of the dream.
"my thought troubled me", —i. e., after waking from his dream-
vision. It shows perhaps that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be
understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself perhaps understood.
"We are not”, says Fausset, "to limit the significance of prophecies to what
the prophets themselves understood.” Many a seer has spoken wiser
than he knew.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 In the third year of the reign of
king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto
me, even unto me, Daniel, after that
which appeared unto me at the first. 2
And I saw in the vision; now it was
so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan
the 3 palace, which is in the province of
Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I
was by the river Ulai. 3 Then I lifted
up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold,
there stood before the river a ram which
had two horns; and the two horns were
’Or, castle
high; but one was higher than the other,
and the higher came up last. 4 I saw
the ram pushing westward, and north¬
ward. and southward; and no beasts
could stand before him. neither was
there any that could deliver out of his
hand; but he did according to his will,
and magnified himself.
5 And as I was considering, behold,
a he-goat came from the west over the
face of the whole earth, and ’touched
not the ground; and the goat had a
a Heb. none touched the ground
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DANIEL
notable horn between his eyes. 6 And
he came to the ram that had the two
horns, which I saw standing before the
river, and ran upon him in the fury of
his power. 7 And I saw him come
close unto the ram, and he was moved
with anger against him, and smote the
ram, and brake his two horns; and there
was no power in the ram to stand be¬
fore him; but he cast him down to the
ground, and trampled upon him, and
there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand. 8 And the he-
goat magnified himself exceedingly: and
when he was strong, the great horn was
broken; and instead of it there came up
four notable horns toward the four
winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth
a little horn, which waxed exceeding
great, toward the south, and toward the
east, and toward the glorious land. 10
And it waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and some of the host and of the
stars it cast down to the ground, and
trampled upon them. 11 Yea, it mag¬
nified itself, even to the prince of the
host; and 'it took away from him the
continual burnt-offering, and the place
of his sanctuary was cast down. 12
And 4 the host was given over to it to¬
gether with the continual burnt-offering
through transgression; and it cast down
truth to the ground, and it did its pleas¬
ure and prospered. 13 Then I heard a
holy one speaking; and another holy
one said unto that certain one who
spake. How long shall be the vision
concerning the continual burnt-offering,
and the transgression that maketh deso¬
late, to give both the sanctuary and the
host to be trodden under foot? 14 And
he said unto me. Unto two thousand
and three hundred evenings and morn¬
ings; then shall the sanctuary be
^cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even
Daniel, had seen the vision, that I
•Another reading is, the continual burnt-offer¬
ing was taken away from him
*Ot, a host was given to it against the &*c.,
Or, a host was set over the &*c.
B Heb. justified
sought *to understand it; and, behold,
there stood before me as the appearance
of a man. 16 And 1 heard a man’s
voice between the banks of the Ulai,
which called, and said, Gabriel, make
this man to understand the vision. 17
So he came near where I stood; and
when he came, I was affrighted, and fell
upon my face: but he said unto me,
Understand, O son of man: for the
vision belongeth to the time of the end.
18 Now as he was speaking with me,
I fell into a deed sleep with my face
toward the ground; but he touched me,
and set me ^upright. 19 And he said,
Behold, I will make thee know what
shall be in the latter time of the indig¬
nation; for it belongeth to the appointed
time of the end. 20 The ram which
thou sawest, that had the two horns,
they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough he-goat is the king of
Greece: and the great horn that is be¬
tween his eyes is the first king. 22 And
as for that which was broken, in the
place whereof four stood up, four king¬
doms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not with his power. 23 And in the
latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a
king of fierce countenance, and under¬
standing dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but
not 8 by his own power; and he shall
“destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper
and do his pleasure; and he shall
“destroy the mighty ones and 10 the holy
people. 25 And through his policy he
shall cause craft to prosper in his hand;
and he shall magnify himself in his
heart, and in their security shall he “de¬
stroy many: he shall also stand up
against the prince of princes; but he
shall be broken without hand. 26 And
the vision of the evenings and mornings
which hath been told is true: but shut
thou up the vision; for it belongeth to
many days to come .
°Heb. understanding
’Or, where l had stood
B Or, with his power. See ver. 22.
®Or, corrupt
10 Heb. people of the saints
vers . 1 - 26 . Vision of the Desecrating Horn and Its Inter¬
pretation.
Ver. 3. "a ram which had two horns ”,—The ram stands for the
kingdom of Media-Persia, the short horn referring to Media and the long
one to Persia. (See verse 20.)
Ver. 4. The ram did not push eastward, not because Media-Persia
came from the east (F. Kr. Len.), nor because the east already belonged to
Media-Persia (Zo.), nor because their conquests did not extend in that
213
DANIEL
direction (Hav.) r but perhaps because their conquests in the east being
very subordinate ones it was not essential to mention them in the unfold¬
ing of this kingdom as a world-power.
Ver. 5. " a he-goat came from the west”, —The reference here is
to the kingdom of Greece.
" the goat had a notable horn”, —By this horn is meant without
doubt Alexander the Great. (See verse 21.)
Ver. 8. “there came up four notable horns”, —These Daniel later
says were the four kingdoms, the divisions into which the Grecian Empire
fell upon the death of Alexander. (See verse 22.)
Ver. 9. “out of one of them” ,—i. e., out of the Seleucid Empire
(the Syrian kingdom) as is universally acknowledged.
“came forth a little horn”, —This by common consent is taken as a
reference to Antiochus Epiphanes.
“the glorious land”, —i. e., Palestine.
The little horn of this chapter is not to be confounded with the little
horn of Chap. 7. (F. Au. Zu. Eb. Hav. Hen. Sco. Gab.)
Says Scofield, “The little horn here is a prophecy fulfilled in Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes, B. C. 175, who profaned the temple and terribly perse¬
cuted the Jews. He is not to be confounded with the ‘little horn’ of
Chap. 7 who is yet to come and who will dominate the earth during the
Great Tribulation. But Antiochus Epiphanes is a remarkable type of the
Beast, the terrible 'little horn' of the last days. That the ‘little horn’ of
Chap. 7 cannot be the ‘little horn' of this chapter is evident. The former
comes up among the 'ten horns’ into which the ‘fourth’ empire (Roman)
is to be divided; the ‘little horn' of this chapter comes out of one of the
‘four kingdoms' into which the third empire (Grecian) was divided
(verse 23), and in ‘the latter times’ of the four kingdoms (verses 22 and
23). This was historically true of Antiochus Epiphanes. They are
alike in hatred of the Jews and of God, and in profaning the temple.”
Ver. 10. “This passage”, says Scofield, “(verses 10-14) is con¬
fessedly the most difficult in prophecy, a difficulty increased by the present
state of the text. Historically this was fulfilled in and by Antiochus
Epiphanes, but in a more intense and final sense Antiochus Epiphanes but
adumbrates the awful blasphemy of the "little horn' of Chap. 7.”
“the host of heaven” and “the stars”, —By these expressions art-
meant the people of Israel, especially those who held positions of responsi¬
bility as did the princes, priests and rabbis.
Ver. 11. “the prince of the host”, —i. e., God Himself. (F. Zo.
Gab.)
""him”, —i. e., the prince of the host.
""took away the continual burnt-offering”, —i. e., stopped the daily
sacrifice.
Ver. 12. “ the host was given over to it”, —The ""host” here refers
to the host of the Jews, and the pronoun “if” throughout the verse refers
to the “little horn”
“through transgression”, —This refers without doubt to the apostacy
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DANIEL
of Israel because of which the host, i. e., the Jewish nation, was given over
to the persecutions of the " little horn”, Antiochus Epiphanes. (K. F. D.
Kr. Hav.) The construction of the verse is exceedingly difficult. There
are some who render it, "and war is raised against the daily sacrifice with
wickedness". (St. Eb. Wi. Hit. Hof. Gro.) See the margin for other
translations, but the rendering of our text adheres more nearly to the origi¬
nal than any of the various other renderings and is much to be preferred.
"it cast down truth”, —He forbade the worship of the true God.
Ver. 13. "a holy one speaking”, —i. e., a saint; here, an angel.
"How long shall be the vision”, etc.? —How long shall the sacrifice
be suspended and the profanation of the temple and the trodding under
foot of the host of the Jewish people be continued, i. e., how long shall
it last?
Ver. 14. ”Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and
mornings”, —By no kind of impartial exegesis can this expression be taken
to indicate two thousand and three hundred years. It must refer to days
—not to 1130 days (Ew. Zo. Ka. Hil. Hit.), but to 2300 days. (C. F.
K. St. Ber. Len. Hav. Hof. Der.) Antiochus Epiphanes took Jerusalem
in B. C. 170. Three years later, B. C. 167, in June he sent Appolonius
against the city who at that time caused all sacrifices to cease. On Decem¬
ber of this same year Appolonius set up the heathen altar in the temple and
on December 25 the heathen sacrifices began. Three years later on this
same date, December 25, B. C. 164, Judas Maccabeus restored the true
sacrifice and this was just three and one-half years after Appolonius stopped
the sacrifice. The three years and a half dating from June, B. C. 167,
was a period of severe oppression and sacrilege against the temple. Stuart
and some others fix the first date mentioned above in B. C. 171 and accord¬
ingly set all the following dates back a year earlier, i. e., B. C. 171, 168
and 165.
These three and one-half years had their typical fulfillment in Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes, but it is generally conceded that its final realization is
reserved for the last times, according to the New Testament writings, in
the eschatological Antichrist.
Ver. 17. " the time of the end”, —This is the prophetic phrase for
the time of fulfillment seen always at the end of the prophetic horizon.
(Gen. 49.1; Num. 24.14.)
This refers of course primarily to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes,
his overthrow and the judgment of the world-kingdom with the ushering
in of the Messianic kingdom at Christ's first coming, but antitypically the
reference is to the final period of the world's history, the close of the Chris¬
tian era at the second coming of Christ. (K. F. St.)
Ver. 19. ”the latter time of the indignation ",—i. e., of God's
indignation.
”the appointed time of the end” ,—Says Scofield, "Two 'ends’ are in
view here; (1) historically, the end of the third, or Grecian Empire of
Alexander out of one of the divisions of which the little horn ' of verse
9 (Antiochus Epiphanes) arose; (2) prophetically, the end of the times
of the Gentiles, when the little horn 3 of Chap. 7, the Beast, will arise—
Daniel's final time of the end."
215
DANIEL
Ver. 22. " not with his power”, —Neither singly nor all taken
together did the power of the four divisions of the Grecian Empire equal
that of his, i. e., of Alexander's.
Ver. 23. " when the transgressors are come to the full”, —The
" transgressors” are the apostate Jews whose sins have ripened them for
judgment. (K. F. St. Rob. Gab.) The typical reference is of course to
the time of Antiochus Epiphanes and the antitypical to the close of the
Christian era.
“understanding dark sentences”, —Literally "verses in riddle", i. e.,
crafty, cleveV and cunning.
Ver. 24. “not by his own power” } —It is by divine permission that
he accomplishes his destructive work.
"the mighty ones and the holy people”, —The leaders among the
Jews and the Jewish people in general, the people of God.
Ver. 25. " the prince of princes”, —i. e., God Himself.
"he shall be broken without hand”, —His destruction was to be due
to the intervention of God.
We can hardly see wherein Scofield is warranted in thinking that
verses 24 and 25 go beyond Antiochus Epiphanes and refer, as he says,
"evidently to the ‘little horn of Chap. 7, in fact pre-eminently so",
although he does not exclude a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes. Cer¬
tainly the " king of fierce countenance” of verse 23 is the same individual
as the one referred to by the pronouns of verses 24 and 25.
Ver. 26. " shut thou up the vision”, —Daniel was told not to be
too anxious about spreading the vision abroad, but to guard it carefully
for later times when it would be better understood.
CHAPTER NINE
20 And while I was speaking, and
praying, and confessing my sin and the
sin of my people Israel, and presenting
my supplication before Jehovah my God
for the holy mountain of my God; 21
yea, while I was speaking in prayer,
the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in
the vision at the beginning, 'being caused
to fly swiftly, touched me about the
time of the evening oblation. 22 And
he “instructed me, and talked with me,
and said. O Daniel, I am now come
forth to give thee wisdom and under¬
standing. 23 At the beginning of thy
supplications the commandment went
forth, and I am come to tell thee:
for thou art 4 greatly beloved; therefore
’Or, being sore wearied
^Or, came near unto me
3 Or, made me to understand
*Or, very -precious Heb. precious things
consider the matter, and understand the
vision.
24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon
thy people and upon thy holy city, 5 to
finish “transgression, and T to make an
end of sins, and to “make reconciliation
for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to seal up vision and
“prophecy, and to anoint 10 the most
holy. 25 Know therefore and discern,
that from the going forth of the com¬
mandment to restore and to build Jeru¬
salem unto n the anointed one, the prince
shall be '"seven weeks, and threescore and
two weeks; it shall be built again, with
street and moat, even in troublous times.
26 And after the threescore and two
*Or, to restrain
6 Or, the transgression
7 Another reading is, to seal up
s Or, purge away
^Heb. prophet
,!, Or. a most holy place
11 Heb. Messiah
1J Or, seven weeks: and threescore and two
weeks, it shall be <W.
216
DANIEL
weeks shall the anointed one be cut off,
and “shall have nothing: and the people
of the prince that shall come shall de¬
stroy the city and the sanctuary: and
the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and even unto the end shall be war:
desolations are determined. 27 And he
13 Or, /here shall be none belonging to him
shall make a firm covenant with many
for one week: and in the midst of the
week he shall cause the sacrifice and the
“oblation to cease: and 18 upon the wing
of abominations shall come one that
maketh desolate; and even unto the full
end, and that determined, shall wrath
be poured out upon the desolate.
I4 Or, meal offering
I6 Or, upon the pinnacle of abominations shall
be frc.
Vers. 20-27. The Vision of the Seventy Weeks of Years and Its
Interpretation.
The “books’ in verse 2 refer to a collection of prophetic writings
which Daniel had at hand including the writings of Jeremiah.
Daniel reckons in verse 2 the captivity, “even seventy years’ from
the fourth year of Jehoiakim, B. C. 606, when he himself was taken away
by Nebuchadnezzar. (Dan. 1.1.) The vision of this chapter occurs B. C.
538 when the period was almost at its close.
Ver. 21. “the man Gabriel’’, —i. e., the angel Gabriel in human
form.
“the time of evening oblation’’, —i. e., three o’clock in the afternoon.
Ver. 24. “Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people’’, —It is
conceded by all that these are weeks of years; more accurately "sevens of
years", i. e., seventy weeks of seven years each, or 490 years. If they
were taken to mean literal weeks the passage would have no sense or mean¬
ing whatever. Four hundred and ninety years are to elapse before any
perfect deliverance is to come, before the national chastisement is to be
ended and the nation re-established in everlasting righteousness. This is
an amplification of the seventy actual years of Jeremiah which had made
only an initial and imperfect fulfillment.
“to finish transgression’’, —i. e., to complete transgression. "Restrain",
as in the margin, seems better suited to the context, i. e., to hem in, to
hinder it, so that it can no longer spread about. (K. F.)
“to make an end of sins”, —The literal of this is "to seal up", i. e.,
to conceal. "Removing them out of God's sight" (Hen.) ; "so as never
more to be declared against us" (Pol. Wil.) ; "so as no more to be active
or increase" (K. Kl. Hof.).
“reconciliation for iniquity’’, —The expression means to atone for by
sacrifice. There is no word in the Old Testament properly rendered
reconcile', atonement is invariably the meaning, the doctrine of reconcilia¬
tion belonging to the New Testament.
everlasting righteousness’’ ,—This refers to both the normal state
between God and man through the righteousness of Christ imputed to
man and the moral aspect of it,—the righteousness practiced by the believer.
(K. F.)
“to seal up’’, —i. e., to conceal (as elsewhere), in the sense of causing
it to cease in consequence of its fulfillment.
vision and prophecy”, —Not so much Jeremiah’s prophecy concern¬
ing the seventy years, but the prophetic institution as a whole and its
visions.
217
DANIEL
"fo anoint the most holy”, —This expression is not once used of a
person anywhere, unless it be in I Chron. 23.13, and even here the refer¬
ence is doubtful. It can hardly be taken therefore as referring to Christ.
(C. Hen. Hav.), nor to Christ as the sacrificial altar of the New Testament
Church (Zo.). Gaebelein maintains that the reference is to the Holy of
Holies in the temple to be built during the time of Tribulation, while
others (K. Pu. Kl. Hof. Rob.) take it as the new spiritual temple, the New
Testament Church, as the dwelling place of God.
Ver. 25. "from the going forth of the commandment” ,—Four com¬
mandments or decrees were issued from one of which it seems the " seventy
weeks” ought to be dated, and each is supported by a number of com¬
mentators. They are:
1. The decree of Cyrus in the first year of his reign, B. C. 536 (Ez.
6.14 and Isa. 44.28). (C. U. Oe. Heg. Coc.)
2. The decree of Darius Hystapis in the second year of his reign, con¬
tinuing that of Cyrus, B. C. 519 (Ez. 6.12). (B. Dr. Lut.)
3. The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his
reign, B. C. 457 (Ez. 7.1; 8.11). (Do. Fra. Cal. Pri. Gei.)
4. The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in the twentieth year of
his reign, his second edict, B. C. 445 (Neh. 2.1,7). (Of. Re.
Af. Sta. Hav. Hen. Gab. Der.)
There were also two prophecies given for the restoration of the city
by Jeremiah from which some date the " seventy weeks”:
1. The first prophecy given B. C. 605 (Jer. 25.11). (Bl. Zo.)
2. The second prophecy given B. C. 598. (Jer. 29.10.)
Besides the above six starting points there are five others, each one
of which has some advocates:
1. The first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, B. C. 539, the
time of Daniel's prophecy itself. (Koc. Mic.)
2. The second year of the reign of Darius Nothus, B. C. 423. (Sea.)
3. The second year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, B. C.
462. (Lut. Mel.)
4. The tenth year of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, or the
earlier date of his second edict on the ground of his co-regency
with his father, Xerxes, B. C. 454. (V. Pet.)
5. The second year of the reign of Xerxes, B. C. 483. (Faber.)
Besides these eleven starting points others have been conceived, but
are hardly to be taken seriously.
The expositors of this remarkable passage introduced by verse 25 fall,
generally speaking, into three classes:
1. Those who refer the whole passage to the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes. (Ei. Ma. Ew. Bl. Kr. Zu. Ber. Len. Hit. Ros. Wie.
Luc. Hil. Hof. Del. and others of the rationalistic school, to¬
gether with a majority of the moderns.) Many of these give the
passage also a typical eschatological meaning. It will be later
seen why this view is an exceedingly difficult one to accept.
2. Those who make the passage a direct prophecy of Christ and the
218
DANIEL
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. (Au. Pu. Rei. Hav. and
the majority of the older orthodox school.)
3. Those who give it an eschatological meaning directly, the periods
of time being taken symbolically,—seven weeks till Christ; sixty-
two weeks till the apostacy of the times of the Antichrist, and one
week (divided into two times three and one-half), the rise and fall
of Antichrist. (K. Kl. Ley.)
"Seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks', —With very few
exceptions expositors take these two periods together, making sixty-nine
weeks or 483 years. If you separate them you leave the last clause with¬
out any governing preposition. The fact that the sixty-two weeks are
repeated in the next verse with the article "the" does not make them any
more of an independent period than they otherwise would be, coming
after the seven weeks. The abrupt pause before "it shall be built", etc., is
just what you would expect, being a resumption of the former statement
that Jerusalem should be rebuilt. Neither is there sufficient evidence, as
Zoeckler claims, for believing that the writer wants to make the building
commence at the beginning of the sixty-two weeks. But we would expect
the building to begin at once, at the beginning of the seven weeks (forty-
nine years) for this was the very terminus a quo of the entire prophecy.
Then the forty-nine years were after all historically the building period.
The expositors are conveniently divided into Messianic and anti-
Messianic.
1. The Anti-Messianic.
1. The destructive rationalistic class:
(a) Daniel made a prediction never fulfilled. (Eckermann.)
(b) Verses 25-27 are a gloss of some later rabbi. (Lowenheim.)
(c) The weeks are ordinary weeks (490 days) and extend from
the time of the vision to the time of Cyrus.
2. The more considerate class, who as a rule refer the fulfillment of
the prophecy to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Of a score
of interpretations we give a few, all of which break down his¬
torically.
(a) Zoeckler and Farrar start with Jeremiah's prophecy and
make the "anointed one" to be Cyrus at the end of seven
weeks. But Cyrus became king and issued his edict B. C.
536. They make the "anointed one cut off" in verse 26 to
be Onias III. who was murdered B. C. 171. Count back
from B. C. 171 and the Cyrus date is missed sixty-nine
years and the Jeremiah prophecy date as many.
It misses the dates of the four decrees on an average of 150
years.
Keil, arguing against starting with the prophecy of Jeremiah,
well says, “All such references to Jeremiah are excluded by
the fact that the angel names the commandment for the res¬
toration of Jerusalem as the terminus a quo (the starting
point) for the seventy weeks and could thus only mean a
word of God, the going forth of which was somewhere deter¬
mined or could be determined just as the appearance of the
219
DANIEL
anointed prince is named as the termination of the seventy,
weeks/'
(b) Bleek and Maurice start with the prophecy of Jeremiah but;
refer the " anointed one cut off” to Philopator (Seleucis IV).
But heathen kings can scarcely be said to be anointed. How¬
ever Philapator was murdered B. C. 176 and counting back
483 years (seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks), we have
B. C. 639, missing the Jeremiah dates by sixty years.
(c) Bertholdt makes the " anointed one cut off” refer to Alexan¬
der the Great. But he died B. C. 323 and no count can even
approximate the Cyrus date (B. C. 536) or the Destruction,
of Jerusalem date (B. C. 588) with which he begins.
(d) Ewald starts with destruction of Jerusalem (B. C. 588) andl
makes the “anointed one cut off” to be Philopator, B. C. 175.
But there is a shortage here of seventy years. Ewald says it'
was formerly in the text but has been lost.
(e) Hitzig and Lengerke start with the B. C. 588 date for both
the forty-nine years and the 434 years (seven weeks and'
sixty-two weeks), paralleling the periods. Hitzig makes-
the “cutting off” refer to Onias III, B. C. 171, but counting^
back 434 years brings us to B. C. 605. Lengerke makes the
“cutting off” refer to Philopator, B. C. 175, but counting
back 434 years we have B. C. 609, thus missing the B. C.
588 date in both cases. It would seem that historically the
reference of this vision to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes is
hardly justifiable.
II. The Messianic.
1. Those who hold the vision to be only typically Messianic:
(a) Kranichfeld reckons the forty-nine years from the de¬
struction of Jerusalem, B. C. 588, which brings him to
Cyrus, the anointed prince, which he takes to be B. C. 539,
and from here he reckons 434 years to Christ, missing it 100j
years, which period he says was unnoticed by the prophet,
in harmony with the law of perspective vision.
(b) Some make the “anointed one cut off” to be Onias III (typi¬
cal of Christ) from whose death, B. C. 171, they count back
434 years (sixty-two weeks) to B. C. 605. They then addi
one week (seven years) to B. C. 171, bringing it to B. C.
164, and then they transpose the seven weeks (forty-nine
years) and add them to B. C. 1 64, or rather leave a hiatus
between B. C. 164 and the first preaching of the Gospel in
the time of Christ and the Apostles, from which latter time
the seven weeks, a mystical period, begins and lasts until the
second coming and judgment of the world. (Fu. Del. Hof.
and V/ies.)
2. Those who hold that the vision is directly Messianic:
(1) Christian expositors of older times.
(a) Africanus reckons from the twentieth year of Artaxerxess
(B. C. 445) to the death of Christ. (He reckoned om
220
DANIEL
Jewish lunar years, making only 465 solar years.)
(Jer. Chr. Aug. Isi. Bed. Theo.)
(b) Hippolytus reckons from the decree of Cyrus, B. C.
536, sixty-nine weeks (483 years) to the birth of
Christ, making the periods mystical, and refers the last
mystical week to the time of the Antichrist in the final
end.
(2) Christian expositors of recent times.
(a) The majority reckon from the decree of Artaxerxes in
the twentieth year of his reign, B. C. 445 (Neh. 1.1;
2.1) and count 483 years to Christ's baptism, A. D. 28.
Xo get this latter date they make the twentieth year of
Artaxerxes B. C. 455 instead of B. C. 445. (Hav.
Hen. Der. Less. Scholl.)
(b) Klieforth reckons from the edict of Cyrus, B. C. 536,
and counts sixty-nine mystical weeks to the birth of
Christ.
(c) Some reckon from the decree given by Artaxerxes in the
seventh year of his reign, B. C. 457 (Ez. 7.8) and
count 483 years to Christ's baptism in A. D. 26. (Pu.
Au. Bla.)
(d) Some take the reckoning of Africanus as above. B. C.
445 to A. D. 32 is 476 years, or 173,740 days. This
plus 116 days for leap years makes 173,856 days. The
exact date of the crucifixion was April 6 (A. D. 32),
and the exact date of the edict was March 14 (B. C.
445), giving twenty-four days more, which added to
173,856 makes 173,880 days. This is exactly 483
times 360 days (a prophetic year). (Gab. Sir Robert
Anderson .)
In harmony with the direct Messianic interpretation of the prophecy
,f the anointed one" of verses 25 and 26 are the same person, i. e., Christ.
(K. Pu. Au. Kl. Hav. Hen. Hof. Del.)
Of those who make the baptism of Christ the terminus ad quern of
the sixty-nine weeks, most of the older and many of the later expositors
make the “one week" (the last week—seven years) follow immediately,
the crucifixion (the "cutting off") taking place at the end of three and
one-half years (in the midst of the week) which put an end to O. T.
sacrifices. The rest of the last week they leave indefinitely with no precise
rhronological determination, referring it to the founding of Christianity
through the preaching of the Apostles.
Of those who make the crucifixion the terminus ad quern, some add
next a hiatus of 2000 years and make the last week the period of the final
Antichrist. (Gab. Sco. Mor. Tor. Mack.)
Klieforth, who holds the mystical theory, reckons the seven weeks
from the edict of Cyrus to the advent of Christ, the sixty-two weeks from
the advent of Christ to the Antichrist week which is the last week, the
“one week".
“built again even in troublous times" —This occurs under Nehemiah
221
DANIEL
and Ezra, the enemies of God's people causing them much trouble. His¬
torically the reconstruction period cannot be extended throughout the
entire sixty-nine weeks, as some (F. Zo.) have interpreted. The temple
was built as early as B. C. 515. (See Neh. 6.15 and Ez. 6.15.)
"The seventy weeks are divided into seven (forty-nine years) ; sixty-
two (434 years), and one (seven years). In the seven weeks (forty-nine
years) Jerusalem was to be rebuilt 'in troublous times . This was ful¬
filled as Ezra and Nehemiah record. Sixty-two weeks (434 years) there¬
after Messiah was to come. This was fulfilled in the birth of Christ."
(Scofield.)
Ver. 26. "and shall have nothing ",—All Hebrew scholars agree
with this reading. The meaning is that He shall then possess nothing;
He shall not possess the kingdom or be the acknowledged King; He shall
be deprived of everything. (C. Eb. Kr. Kl. Ju. Gab. Mor. Sco.)
The following are some of the numerous other renderings;
1. "not for himself", i. e., not for His own sake will Christ die, but
for humanity. (V. Ros. Wil. Hav. Bui)
2. "shall have no adherents". (Au. Gro. Marginal reading.)
3. "there shall be none to help him". (Vat.)
4. "there shall be nothing to Him", i. e., the city, the sanctuary and
the Jewish people shall be His no more. (Pu.)
5. "it shall not be to him", i. e., His place as Messiah—He has lost it.
(K.)
Hengstenberg adopts the fourth reading but makes it mean that the
earthly kingdom for which the Jews had hoped shall come to nought.
All of the above five renderings together with that of our text refci
"the anointed one " to Christ. Those who refer "the anointed one " tc
Onias or Philopator or Alexander translate, "he shall have no successor".
"the prince that shall come ",—To whom does this refer? (See ex¬
planation under verse 27.)
"and the end thereof ", etc., —According to our text this must hi
taken as the end of the city and the sanctuary (F. Au. Del. Hav. Hit. Gei.
Len.), but it may quite as properly be rendered "and his end " and refer tc
the prince that shall come, the final Antichrist. (K. Kl. Kr. Zo. Hof. Wic.
Gab. Sco. Mor. Tor. Treg.)
"and even unto the end shall be war", —Unto what end?
1. The end of the city and the sanctuary. (Au. Hav.)
2. The end of the prince, i. e., until he is destroyed. (Wie. as well
as all who take the prince to be Antiochus Epiphanes.)
3. The end of all things. (Kl.)
4. The end generally, i. e., the end of the last week, whether it hi
viewed as then in progress or as a week yet to come in the future.
(K. Hen. Len. Hit.) This last is without doubt correct.
Scofield says, "The crucifixion is the first event of verse 26. The
second event is the destruction of the city, fulfilled A. D. 70. Then "untc
the end", a period not fixed, but which has already lasted 2000 years. To
Daniel was revealed only that wars and desolations should continue (Matt.
24.6-14). The New Testament reveals that which was hidden from
the Old Testament prophets (Eph. 3.1-10) that during this period should
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DANIEL
be accomplished the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13.1-50) ,
and the outcalling of the Church (Rom. 11.25). When the Church age
will end and the ‘seventieth week' begin, is nowhere revealed. Its dura¬
tion can be but seven years; to make it more violates the principle of inter¬
pretation already confirmed by fulfillment."
"desolations are determined”, —According to our text these words
are to be joined to the preceding clause with a semicolon and are to be
taken as an explanatory clause. (KI. Kr.)
Many prefer the reading of the Authorized Version, "and unto the
end of the war desolations are determined". (So. Fu. Ew. Hof. Ros.
Vul. Sept.)
Another reading and one which we prefer is, “and even unto the end
shall be war , the determined desolations” . The "determined desolations"
are by this rendering taken in apposition with the word "war". (Au. Hit.
Wie. Mau. Len. Hav.)
“determined” , —i. e., decreed by God.
Ver. 27. “make a firm covenant”, —Many authorities take the word
“week” to be the subject of this sentence, and explain the expression as
follows:
1. The one week shall make the Old Testament covenant (adher¬
ence to the faith in Jehovah and to the theocratic law) hard
(grievous) for many. (Hit.)
2. The one week shall confirm many in the covenant through tribu¬
lation and the trial of their faith. (Hof. Ros.)
3. The one week shall confirm a covenant to many through the seduc¬
tive arts of Antiochus Epiphanes. (Len.)
4. The one week (especially by the death of the Messiah) shall lead
to the conclusion of a new, strong and firm covenant with many.
(Au. Hen. Hav.)
We prefer with our text to make “he” the subject of the sentence.
It would seem that “he” here must refer to the same person as does
'the prince that shall come " in verse 26, and the reference in verse 26 must
herefore be determined by the content of this verse 27 as well as by its own
ontent.
It would seem evident therefore that “the prince that shall come” and
he “he” cannot refer to Antiochus Epiphanes (Zo. Fa.), because, as Strong
emarks, "the language was not fulfilled in any sense by Antiochus who
limed at the suppression of Jehovah's worship and virtually left the city
nd the sanctuary untouched"; nor can it refer to Christ, the Messiah (F.
I. Rob. Wil. Str.) because it was not His people (verse 26) that destroyed
he city and the sanctuary, nor is it without extreme difficulty that we can
hink of Him making a covenant for a week (seven years). His was an
|everlasting covenant” . Once more, it can hardly refer to Titus (F. BI.
:w. Len. Jos. Str.), because while verse 26 might be true of him, verse
\7 can in no sense be said to be so. It would seem therefore that the refer-
nce in both verses must be to the Antichrist who is yet to come. (K. Kl.
:r. Sco. Mor. Gab. Wie. Hof.)
“many” ,— In the original the article “the” is found. Zoeckler and
lis class of interpreters make these to be the apostatizing Jews in the time
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DANIEL
of Antiochus Epiphanes, but Keil well remarks that the mass of the Jews
did not apostatize in his time, which this expression, by the use of the
definite article "the” seems to make clear was the case. The reference, of
course, consistent with our former explanation must refer to the Jews of
the times of the final Antichrist. As Keil says, "That ungodly prince
shall impose upon the mass of the people a strong covenant that they should
follow him and give themselves to him as their God."
It must be noticed that, if “the prince that shall come” be taken as
the Antichrist, it is not the Antichrist who destroys “the city and the sanc¬
tuary”, but the people of the Antichrist; that is, as Morgan says, "the
people who are guided by the same principle of government that eventually
characterizes the rule of the Antichrist".
Now, according to our explanation thus far, two distinct periods ol
time are referred to in the passages immediately before us. If we trans¬
late with our text, “the end thereof” in verse 26, and refer this to the end
of the city and the sanctuary, then the end time in which the final Anti
christ appears begins with verse 27, but if with Morgan and others we
translate “his end” in verse 26, and refer this to the Antichrist himself,
then the prophecy passes immediately after the semicolon on to events at
the close of this age, when the Prince himself, the final Antichrist, shall be
manifested. Then, as Morgan says, "The semicolon of Daniel is the
coma which follows Isaiah’s ‘acceptable year of the Lord’."
“and in the midst of the week he”, etc .,—The subject is of course
the same throughout the verse. Says Scofield, "He will covenant with the
Jews to restore their temple sacrifices for one week (seven years), but in
the middle of that time, after three and one-half years, he will break the
covenant and fulfill Dan. 12.11; II Thess. 2.3,4. Between the sixty-
ninth week, after which the Messiah was cut off, and the seventieth week,
within which the ‘little horn’ of Dan. 7 will run his awful course, inter¬
venes this entire Church-age. Verse 27 deals with the last three and one-
half years of the seven, which are identical with the ‘great Tribulation’,
‘the time of trouble’; the hour of temptation; Matt. 24.1 5-28 ; Dan. 12.1;
Rev. 3.10."
Those who refer the subject of this verse to Christ, the Messiah,
maintain that the reference is to His perfect expiatory sacrifice on the Cross
whereby He did forever away with the Levitical sacrifices. (F. Au. Str.
Hav. Hen.) These authorities maintain, therefore, that half of Daniel’s
missing week has already gone in the three and one-half years of our Lord’s
earthly ministry. But the clear and distinct division of "weeks" in verses
26 and 27 rather argue against this view and lead us to believe that the
whole of the missing week is still in the future.
“upon the wing of abominations shall one come that maketh deso
late”,—"abominations” mean "horrible things" and from the religious
standpoint, "abominable idolatries".
“wing” is a literal translation. The word is equivalent to "screen,
protection, covering, roof". It carries in it the idea of extension and so
may be applied to the wing of a building. Some render it "pinnacle", but
Bleek and Keil argue rather conclusively that the idea of extension which
inheres in the word is always extension horizontally and never vertically.
The idea of pinnacle may be gotten from one of its primal meanings.
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DANIEL
i. e., "roof", and so by the rule of Synecdoche (a part being taken for the
whole) the "wing" (extension) or the "roof" (pinnacle) may be applied
to the entire building and so read "temple". The ancient versions all
agreed in this. The Maccabean book, the most ancient translation of the
words, so renders, as do also the most ancient translations, the Septuagint
and the Vulgate. The literal reading would then be, "Upon the temple
shall come the abominations of the one that maketh desolate", or "Upon
the temple shall come the abominations of desolation",
translate "desolator" or "desolation". If the rendering
according as we
"desolation" be
adopted, this word would be considered as an apposition to "abomina¬
tions", it being really a genitive of description.
Others translate, "Under the pinnacle of abominations comes the one
temple where abominable idols were placed." (D. Oe. Os. Bui. Ges.)
The last of these authorities translates with the margin of the Authorized
Version, "On the pinnacle (of the temple) are the abominations of the
one that maketh desolate". Jesus said, "When you see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by Daniel". He quoted from the Vulgate and He
also knew Hebrew and this lends pretty good evidence that the Vulgate
translation is a good one. It would appear, however, that the only gram¬
matically possible translation is that of our text.
Others translate, "Upon the pinnacle of abominations comes the one
that maketh desolate". (K. Kl. Kr. Mau. Rei. Hen. Len.) The first
three of these authorities makes the desolator to be the future Antichrist
coming on the wings of idolatry, the power that moves and carries him
over the earth. Still others translate, "On account of the pinnacle, or
frightful height of abominations there shall come one that maketh deso¬
late", thus giving the moral ground why in God’s providence the desolator
came. (F. Pu. Au. Eu. Gab.) Gaebelein translates, "On account of the
protection of abominations there shall come one who maketh desolate".
Hitzig renders it, "Upon the extreme point of the abominations deso¬
lation shall come". This translation is much like that of our text, but by
the "extreme point" he means the idol altar put up by Antiochus Epi-
phanes.
These different translations practically come to the same thing in
their meaning; it was because of the idolatrous abominations that the deso¬
lator, or desolation, was to come upon the city and the sanctuary.
"even unto the full end ",—Zoeckler says the expression for "full end"
is an exact reproduction of Isa. 10.23; 28.22, and means "consumption",
utter extinction, and he translates the last word of the verse "desolator",
referring it to Antiochus Epiphanes. Fausset and Tregellius translate with
Zoeckler but while Fausset refers the word to Titus as a type of the final
Antichrist, Tregellius refers it to the final Antichrist directly. The word
in question, however, is passive and so means "desolate", and means, we
presume, the people who are made desolate.
ZHAPTER TEN
14 Now I am come to make thee
understand what shall befall thy people
in the latter days; for the vision is yet
for many days.
225
DANIEL
Vcr. 14. The Prophecy of the End-Time Announced.
“the vision is yet for many days”, —The idea here may be either:
1. The vision to be imparted to thee shall extend to these days. (Kr.
Hav.)
2. Yet a vision of those days I am now to reveal. (Zo.) According
to this latter explanation the word “yet” seems to have a backward
reference to the other visions given to Daniel. Either view gives
good sense and one has about as much in its favor as the other.
“many days”, —These days refer to the days just mentioned, i. e.,
the latter days. No content of this vision is given unless we refer it to
the following chapter.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
31 And forces shall stand on his
part, and they shall profane the sanctu¬
ary, even the fortress, and shall take
away the continual burnt-offering, and
they shall set up the abomination that
maketh desolate.
3 2 And such as do wickedly against
the covenant shall he pervert by flat¬
teries: but the people that know their
God shall be strong, and do exploits.
3 3 And 2 they that are wise among the
1 Heb. make fro fane
z 0r, the teachers of the feofle
people shall instruct many; yet they
shall fall by the sword and by flame, by
captivity and by spoil many days.
34 Now when they shall fall, they
shall be helped with a little help; but
many shall join themselves unto them
with flatteries.
35 And some of “them that are wise
shall fall. to refine them, and to purify,
and to make them white, even to the
time of the end; because it is yet for the
time appointed.
3 0r, the teachers
Vers. 31-35. The “Little Horn" of Daniel 8, Antiochus Epi¬
phanes, IN THE “GLORIOUS LAND" (PALESTINE).
In Chap. 11 the prophet first traces through prophetic vision the
history of the two parts of the Grecian empire which had to do with
Palestine and the Jews, viz., Syria and Egypt. He brings this down to the
time of Antiochus Epiphanes (verse 21), after which the vision concerns
itself with the two expeditions of this king into Egypt, from the second of
which he returns in verse 30 and on his way back to his own land (Syria)
he takes out his revenge on the Jews, while at the same time he makes an
affiliation with the apostate Jews, “such as do wickedly against the
covenant”,
Ver. 31. “forces shall stand on his part”, —He shall maintain an
armed host in the Holy Land.
“profane the sanctuary, even the fortress”, —The sanctuary was a
stronghold not only in a physical sense but especially in a spiritual sense.
Jehovah is called a “strong tower".
“set up the abomination”, —“Abomination" is the common name for
an idol in the Old Testament. Appolonius, by direction of Antiochus
Epiphanes, had an altar to Jupiter Olympius built on the altar of God in
the temple; he also sacrificed a sow and sprinkled its broth about the temple.
“that maketh desolate”, —i. e., that pollutes the temple.
226
DANIEL
Ver. 32. “ such as do wickedly against the covenant”, —i. e., the
apostate Jews.
“the people who know God”, —This is said perhaps with special ref¬
erence to the Maccabees and their followers. (See also Hebrews 11.34.)
Ver. 33. “they that are wise”, —Not special teachers (Hit.), but
the understanding ones who know and keep the truth of God; men like
Mattathias and his five sons and Eleazar.
Ver. 34. "they shall be helped with a little help”, —i. e., perhaps
by the efforts and partial victories of Mattathias and his five sons. They
however soon fell under the Romans and the Herodians.
" many shall join themselves unto them with flatteries”, —The refer¬
ence here is to the hypocritical Jewish adherents who joined Mattathias and
his sons while fortune favored them, but who before had been deserters.
Ver. 35. Here is set forth some of the divine purpose in permitting
the sufferings, namely, to refine, to purify and to make them '‘white*’.
“the time of the end”, —Here, says Scofield, Daniel “overleaps the
centuries to the time when he of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was a type,
the ' little horn of Dan. 7.8, the Antichrist of the final end time, shall
appear’’. Others of course will have us think here of the end of Antiochus
Epiphanes himself.
“a time appointed”, —This expression wherever found in this book
of Daniel refers to a time of divine appointment, whatever may be the
particular period of time in question. (See verses 27,29 also of this
chapter.)
Vers. 31-35 are referred by some (Bi. Os. Pf. Cox. Rob) to the
Papal power, with explanations as follows:
Ver. 31. “forces shall stand on his part”, —By various ways the
Roman arms stood up over the Grecian power.
“profane the sanctuary” ,—This took place first on the siege of Jeru¬
salem by Pompey when, says Josephus, “no small enormities were com¬
mitted”. It was polluted under Crassus and again when Sosius took
the city.
“take away the continual burnt-offering”, —This was done during
the siege of the city by Titus.
“they shall set up the abomination” ,—This took place first when the
Romans under Cestius assailed the temple; again under Titus when ensigns
were brought into the temple and sacrifice offered to them, and again when
a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was built on the very site of the sanctuary
of God.
Ver. 32. “pervert by flatteries”, —This refers to the alluring prom¬
ises of the Roman magistrates.
Ver. 33. “ shall instruct many”, —The primitive Christians, as they
were dispersed everywhere, truly did so.
“yet they shall fall”, etc., —This was all fulfilled in ten general per¬
secutions.
227
DANIEL
Ver. 34. “they shall be helped with a little help", —i. e., under
Constantine.
"Many shall join themselves unto them with flatteries', —Many did
so because Christianity was made the religion of the empire.
Ver. 35. “to refine and to purify and to make them white", —Many
of the followers of Jesus became victims of Papal intolerance; a trying,
purifying process. But the God-appointed end shall come.
Apart, however, from the impression which forces itself upon one
that such reference to the Papal power is quite too arbitrary as well as
lacking in appropriateness, it is not at all clear by what law of exegesis
the subject of verse 3 1 can be made to differ from that of the preceding
verse with which it is intimately connected. Certainly such a change of
subject must be in some degree at least grammatically possible.
36 And the king shall do according
to his will; and he shall exalt himself,
and magnify himself above every god,
and shall speak marvelous things against
the God of gods: and he shall prosper
till the indignation be accomplished; for
that which is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the gods of
his fathers, nor the desire of women,
nor regard any god; for he shall magni¬
fy himself above all. 3 8 But in his
’place shall he honor the god of for¬
tresses; and a god whom his fathers
knew not shall he honor with gold, and
silver, and with precious stones and
pleasant things. 3 9 And he shall deal
with the strongest fortresses by the help
of a foreign god: ^whosoever acknow¬
ledged him 3 he will increase with glory;
and he shall cause them to rule over
many, and shall divide the land for a
price.
’Or, office
'*’Or, whom he shall acknowledge and in¬
crease with glory
3 Or, shall increase glory
Vers. 36-39. The Wilful King Described.
It is difficult to determine to whom this section refers. It is referred
by some (Zo. Wil.) to Antiochus Epiphanes with explanation as follows;
Ver. 36. “magnify himself above every god", —i. e., in his proud
imagination.
“speak marvelous things against the God of gods", —He forbade by
a decree the worship of Jehovah.
“till the indignation be accomplished" ,—The reference here is to
God’s anger against the Jews in the execution of which He employed Anti
ochus Epiphanes.
Ver. 37. “Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers", —His
Grecian fathers had adopted the gods of Syria, but he established the wor
ship of Jupiter Olympius (Grecian) at Jerusalem and of Xenias (Roman )
at Samaria.
“nor the desire of women ",—
1. No respect for his marriage vows. (Gei. Cal. Lut.)
2. No regard for the supplication of women and especially of his
wives that he cease from his attacks on Jehovah's religion. (Pol. )
3. No love for women. (Gro.)
4. Not allow his wives to worship any god but Jupiter Olympius
(Pis.)
228
DANIEL
5. No regard for woman's love, the type of human affection for
which even the worst man has some regard. (K.)
6. No pity for the sex. (Mai.)
7. No regard for the desire of women to be the mother of the coming
Messiah.
8. No respect for the worship of the goddess Venus whose temple he
plundered at Elymais and which goddess the women worshipped
as their favorite deity. (Zo. Mau. Der. Hav. Ges. Mic.) We
rather prefer this last explanation, if the passage is to be referred
to Antiochus Epiphanes, in as much as the reference placed between
two expressions referring to gods leads to the thought that a deity
may have been in the mind of the speaker. The choice lies be¬
tween this and the third explanation. But all is vague and
uncertain.
" nor regard any god", —i. e., have no reverence for God or things
divine. (K. Kl.)
"he shall magnify himself above all", —i. e., above all that is divine
or human.
Ver. 38. " But in his place", —i. e., on his pedestal, tjie pedestal of
his statue. (F. Zo. Ber. Hit. Hav. Len. Mau.)
"the god of fortresses", —Jupiter Capitolinus to whom he began to
erect a temple in Antioch and which god, it is claimed by the authorities
just mentioned, was unknown to his fathers.
Keil renders, "In the place of every god he will make war to be his
god, that is, the taking of fortresses." The former view, however, is
preferable.
Ver. 39. "And he shall deal with the strongest fortresses," etc., —
Out of a dozen different interpretations that of Keil seems the best, "He
will deal with (proceed against) the strong fortresses with the help of this
foreign god".
"whosoever acknowledgeth him ",—i. e., Antiochus Epiphanes.
"and he shall cause them", —i. e., those who like him worship the god
of fortresses. The reference is of course to the apostatizing Jews.
"and shall divide the land", —i. e., give them land for a reward.
There are some objections to referring these verses (36-39) to Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes:
1. The expressions "magnify himself above every god" and "nor
regard any god" hardly apply to a man who sought to establish
the worship of Jupiter; although it is true that he did identify
himself with Jupiter and so claimed divine honors.
2. History knows nothing of his not regarding the desire of women,
nor of his speaking marvelous things against God.
3. The worship of Jupiter Olympius, the Grecian god, can hardly
be said to be "unknown to his fathers ".
Pusey observes that of the many specified characteristics of this willful
king only one agrees with the character of Antiochus Epiphanes.
Those who find in verses 31-35 a reference to the Papal power find
here in these verses 36-39 a reference of course to the Pope.
229
DANIEL
Ver. 36. “do according to his will”, —The Pope claimed absolute
sway over earthly rulers.
“magnify himself above every god”, —Civil rulers claimed divine
honors and were sometimes called "gods”, and the Pope claimed to be above
them.
“speak marvelous things against the God of gods”, —i. e. f by claiming
equality with God. He is called, "Our Lord God, the Pope”. The
words of the 95 th Psalm are applied to him on the day of his consecration
in St. Peter's.
Ver. 37. “Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers”, —He puts
the Church above the word of God, imports paganism into worship (holy
water), and takes his title, Pontifex, from the high-priest of ancient
Roman idolatry.
“not regard the desire of women”, —The Pope doesn’t marry and
claims it to be unlawful for ministers to do so. (I Tim. 4.3.)
“nor regard any god” ,—This is true whether “god” denotes the civil
ruler or Jehovah.
Ver. 38. “he shall honor the god of fortresses”, —The word, it is
said, denotes “god-protectors”, and as such they worship Mary and the
saints. They impose trust in relics of the saints and claim they afford
them divine protection.
“honor with gold and silver”, etc., —The shrines of the tutelary
saints and the images of the Virgin are adorned with costly offerings.
“divide the land for a price”, —The choicest lands have been appro¬
priated for the Church and the priests and their ministers have been given
glory and honor.
Inasmuch as verses 31-35 cannot very properly, as we have seen, be
applied to the Papal power, it follows that these verses, 36-39, can with
no more propriety be referred to the Pope. At any rate the impartial
scholar cannot but feel that any explanation which endeavors to apply
them to the Pope must be necessarily somewhat warped and exaggerated,
and as between the Pope and Antiochus Epiphanes the words are far more
applicable to the latter than to the former.
By others again (Gab. Sco. Mor.) the verses (36-39) are referred
to the final Antichrist, with explanation as follows:
He is self-willed; he will exalt himself “above every god”, and “speak
marvelous things against the God of gods”. (II Thess. 2.)
“Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers”, —This is the read¬
ing of our text and would seem to imply that his fathers were heathen and
Gentile, which Scofield seems to think accords with Dan. 9.26 which
prophecy was fulfilled by the Gentile armies of Rome.
According to the reading of the Authorized Version, “God of his
fathers”, the reference would be to Jehovah the God of the Jews, the
Antichrist being as many think a Jew.
He will not regard Jesus Christ who is the desire of every Jewish
woman.
He will honor a “foreign god”. To whom this foreign god refers
is unknown. Gaebelein thinks it refers to the first beast of Rev. 13.
230
DANIEL
“The Antichrist", says Scofield, "is an apostate from Christianity,
not from Judaism. Verses 38-45 describe his career. He substitutes the
'god of forces (i. e., the forces of nature) for the true god, and soon
presents himself as that god (II Thess. 2.3,4)."
40 And at the time of the end shall
the king of the south Contend with
him: and the king of the north shall
come against him like a whirlwind,
with chariots, and with horsemen, and
with many ships: and he shall enter
into the countries, and shall overflow
and pass through. 41 He shall enter
also into the glorious land, and many
countries shall be overthrown: but these
shall be delivered out of his hand:
Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the
children of Ammon. 42 He shall
stretch forth his hand also upon the
*Heb. fush at
countries: and the land of Egypt shall
not escape. 43 But he shall have power
over the treasures of gold and of silver,
and over all the precious things of
Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiop¬
ians shall be at his steps. 44 But tid¬
ings out of the east and out of the
north shall trouble him; and he shall go
forth with great fury to destroy and
'utterly to sweep away many. 45 And
he shall plant the tents of his palace
'between the sea and the glorious holy
mountain: yet he shall come to his end,
and none shall help him.
a Heb. to devote many
•Or, between the seas at
Vers. 40-45. The Martial Career of the Wilful King.
It is equally difficult and even more so to know to whom these verses
apply.
1. Some refer them to Antiochus Epiphanes and make them a resume
of verses 22-30. (F. Ew. Der. Len. Mau. Hit. Kam.)
(a) Verse 40 a resume of the first expedition in verses 22-25.
(b) Verse 41a resume of the former invasion of Judea in verse 28.
(c) Verses 42, 43 a resume of the second and third expeditions
in verses 23, 24, 29 and 30.
If only two expeditions into Egypt are admitted the refer¬
ence would be to the first one in verses 22-25, and the second
one in verses 29 and 30.
2. Others refer them also to Antiochus Epiphanes but make them an
account of another and separate expedition into Egypt. (St. Zo.
Ju. Wil.)
Ver. 40. “the time of the end” ,—This, it would seem, must refer
to the same time as that mentioned in verse 35.
“the king of the south ",—If the third expedition into Egypt just
mentioned be admitted the king here mentioned is Euergetes, called Phys-
con, but if we have here a resume of the first expedition the king in ques¬
tion is Philometor.
contend with him", —The Hebrew is "push at him", the king of
the south being the aggressor.
the king of the north“ ,—i. e., Antiochus Epiphanes.
he shall enter into the countries" ,—i. e., the countries adjoining
Egypt through which his march would lead him, Coele-Syria, Palestine.
Ver. 41. “the glorious land", —i. e., Palestine.
Edom and Moab and Ammon", — The allies of Antiochus Epiph¬
anes against the Jews and the leading representatives of tribal hostility
to the theocracy.
231
DANIEL
Ver. 43. ‘‘the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps ",—
i. e., as enforced auxiliaries.
Ver. 44. This verse refers to the insurrection probably of the Par-
thians in Persia and the Armenians against whom, returning, he directed an
expedition shortly before he died.
Ver. 45. "the tents of his palace", —i. e., his palatial tents.
"the sea", —i. e., the Mediterranean.
"the glorious, holy mountain", —i. e., Mount Zion.
"he shall come to his end", —He died in the Persian town of Tabae
a year or so after his campaign against the Parthians and the Armenians.
Keil says these verses cannot refer to a resume because of the expres
sion, "at the end of the time", and because some new features are intro
duced. Whether this last expedition (if made) was a fourth or a third
depends on whether verses 22-25 compose two or one expedition. If a
last expedition be admitted it is preferably a third. Wiessler in SchafF-
Hertzog says he made four expeditions, in the last of which he was stopped
by the Romans, and on returning from which he stopped the worship ot
Jehovah and built the idol altar in the temple. Then came the victories
of Mattathias and the Maccabees and his death in Tabae.
History, neither Livy, Polybius, Appian, Justyn, Maccabean books,
nor Josephus, knows nothing about such a last expedition. Porphry
alone mentions it and on the strength of his statement alone it is accepted
by a goodly number of commentators. (K. St. Au. Fu. Jer. Wie.)
Stuart says that all histories of Antiochus Epiphanes are mere scraps
(and this is true) and that since Daniel's accuracy is admitted elsewhere,
why not accept him here and take this as a true account of another expe¬
dition. With Stuart we are inclined to agree, if the passage is to be referred
to Antiochus Epiphanes.
Those who refer verses 31-39 to the Papal power and the Pope refer
these verses 40-45 to the Saracens and the Turks in their crusade against
the Roman empire. (Me. Br. Bui. Rob.)
Ver. 40. "the time of the end", —i. e., the last times of the Roman
empire.
The "king of the south" refers to the Saracens, and the "king of the
north" refers to the Turks, both of whom "pushed against" the Romans,
the first in A. D. 630 and the second in A. D. 1300, the "him" in both
cases being the Roman empire.
After Rome had conquered Egypt and Syria, the Saracens took Egypt
and the Turks took Syria.
Ver. 41. "He shall enter into the glorious land", — "He" refers to
the king of the north, mentioned in the preceding verse, i. e., the Turks,
who entered Palestine in 1517.
Ver. 42. "the land of Egypt shall not escape", —Sultan Selim took
Egypt and established the government of the Turks.
Ver. 44. "tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble
him", —The uprisings of subdued nations or invasions from other quarters
232
DANIEL
draw him from Egypt to Palestine. Robinson thinks that this part of the
prophecy is not yet fulfilled.
Ver. 45. ,( he shall come to his end ”,—The end of the hostile power
under its last form is to come with the destruction of all the world powers
that have set themselves in opposition to God's people and is still future.
Those who refer verses 36-39 to the final Antichrist refer of course
these verses 40-45 likewise to this Antichrist, and by way of explanation
say that the two kings push at him. First, the king of the south and with
little success. No one knows who this king is to be. Then the king of
the north will come against him, who also pushes down into Egypt, when
tidings reach him out of the north and east and he returns in fury to encamp
against the Holy City. Then Christ comes and this king of the north
shall come to his end together with the overthrow of the Antichrist.
Gaebelein says the wilful king is the personal Antichrist, the little
horn of Chap. 7 is the head of the revived Roman Empire, the first Beast
of Rev. 13, and the little horn of Chap. 8 is the king of the north spoken
of in this Chap. 11, verse 40. The personal Antichrist, he says, is the
second Beast of Rev. 13.
CHAPTER TWELVE
1 And at that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince who standeth for
the children of thy people; and there
shall be a time of trouble, such as never
was since there was a nation even to that
same time: and at that time thy people
shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book. 2 And
many of them that sleep in the dust of
the earth shall awake, some to everlast¬
ing life, and some to shame and ever¬
lasting ’contempt. 3 And “they that are
wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever. 4 But thou. O Daniel, shut up
the words, and seal the book, even to
the time of the end: many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be in¬
creased.
5 Then I, Daniel. looked, and, be¬
hold. there stood other two, the one on
the brink of the river on this side, and
the other on the brink of the river on
that side. 6 And one said to the man
clothed in linen, who was above the
waters of the river, How long shall it
be to the end of these wonders? 7 And
I heard the man clothed in linen, who
'Or, abhorrence
‘‘Or, the teachers
Vers. 1-13. TRIBULATION AND Resurrection.
Ver. 1 . " And at that time ”, —If somewhere in the preceding chap¬
ter the transition has been made to the times of the final Antichrist, whether
was above the waters of the river, when
he held up his right hand and his left
hand unto heaven, and sware by him
that liveth for ever that it shall be for a
time, times, and a half; and when they
have made an end of breaking in pieces
the power of the holy people, all these
things shall be finished. 8 And I heard,
bnt I understood not: then said I, O
my Lord, what shall be the 3 issue of
these things? 9 And he said, Go thy
way, Daniel: for the words are shut
up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall purify themselves and
make themselves white, and be refined;
but the wicked shall do wickedly; and
none of the wicked shall understand;
but “they that are wise shall understand.
1 1 And from the time that the con¬
tinual burnt-offering shall be taken
away, and the abomination that maketh
desolate set up, there shall be a thou¬
sand two hundred and ninety days. 1 2
Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh
to the thousand three hundred and five
and thirty days. 1 3 But go thou thy
way till the end be; for thou shalt rest,
and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of
the days.
^Or, latter end
233
DANIEL
it be at verse 35 (Gab.) or at verse 40 (K.), then the reference in our
expression here refers to the time just indicated in the preceding verse, i. e.,
in Chap. 11.45.
Zoeckler, who refers all of Chap. 11.21-45 to Antiochus Epiphanes,
makes of course the same connection, referring it to the time (Chap. 11.45)
when judgment shall overtake the impious oppressor, Antiochus Epiph¬
anes, and when he shall come to his end "without a helper ". He says
that nearly all recent expositors have so contended, and for three reasons:
(1) The conjunction "and" connects this new designation of time
intimately with the preceding.
(2) It is impossible to regard the words "at that time" otherwise
than as a reference to the time indicated in the context immediately pre¬
ceding.
(3) The time referred to is immediately afterwards characterized as a
time of trouble, which shows with sufficient clearness that the reference is
to the period of persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes as heretofore
described.
But while Zoeckler is right as to the connection, he must be wrong
as to the content and reference of one or the other of these sections. While
the words of that section may with propriety be referred to Antiochus
Epiphanes, those of this chapter surely cannot be so referred. (K. Hav.)
The statement regarding the time of trouble is far too strong for such a
period, while the promised deliverance of Daniel's people does not accord
with the facts of the Syrian oppression.
Now there is no doubt whatever that the first three verses of Chap.
12 refer to "the time of the end" in the sense of the final end-time. This
being so, the transition from the narrative concerning Antiochus Epiphanes
must be made somewhere, because there is likewise no doubt that verse 21
of Chap. 11 the narrative takes up the history of this king of Syria.
Gaebelein says the transition is at Chap. 11.35. He says verse 35
calls our attention to "the time of the end" and verse 36 transports us into
it, and between them is the long unreckoned period of time.
Keil admits that the close connection made by the conjunction "and"
will not admit of any break between the chapters, and he makes the tran¬
sition at Chap. 11.40, which he says introduces "the time of the end ”
when the final hostile power, the final Antichrist, rises up to subdue the
whole world, sets up his camp in the Holy Land, to destroy many in great
anger and to utterly uproot them.
Most expositors maintain that from Chap. 11.21 on to the end of
the chapter the reference is primarily to Antiochus Epiphanes, but that the
final Antichrist is the antitypical reference, while of course, in a sense, it
points to whatever other antichrists there may have been along the way,
inasmuch as John says there are many antichrists. This is doubtless true,
if the entire section (verses 21-45) be referred to this Syrian ruler, and it
would be accordingly true of whatever portion of this section precedes
the point of transition (if one is to be made) to the direct and primary
reference to the final Antichrist.
Zoeckler escapes, as he thinks, the difficulty suggested above, by his
close connection of the two chapters, by making the transition between the
chapters. This might be allowable if he did not find in the first verses
234
DANIEL
of Chap. 12 a direct reference to the troubles under Antiochus Epiphanes.
What we contend is that these verses can in no way refer to the time of
this king, and Fausset must likewise be wrong when he explains the words,
“at that time” as “typically, towards the close of the reign of Antiochus
Epiphanes; antitypically, the time when Antichrist is to be destroyed at
Christ's second coming".
We are inclined to think there is little difference as to where the tran¬
sition is made, although perhaps the one at Chap. 11.35 is to be preferred.
But wherever it is put it must be something analogous to that found in the
eschatological discourse of Christ in Matt. 24.29 and Mk. 13.24, and the
transition here, as there, seems to stand as a connecting link between the
near and the far distant application of the prediction.
“shall Michael stand up ",—Michael is the prince of the angels,
Israel's protector. The reference here is not to Christ, as Calvin and later
Havernick, in accord with some of the older commentators suppose;
the latter insisting that the reference is to the first appearance of Christ.
He is, however, an archangel, and not the Lord Jesus, from whom he is
distinguished in Jude 9.
In what particular way Michael executes the judgment committed to
him on this particular occasion is not for us to inquire. An angel smote
in one night 185,000 Assyrians that lay encamped about Jerusalem.
“a time of trouble’ —Zoeckler, as we have seen, with Grotius,
Chrysostom and others understand these troubles of the persecutions of
Antiochus Epiphanes.
Calvin, Junius and others apply them to the troubles of the Church
in the times of the Gospel.
Havernick understands them of the afflictions which the people of
Israel endured at the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, and which will
be more fully realized at the second coming of Christ.
Most expositors rightly find in them the final time of the great tribula¬
tion at the termination of the present course of the world. (K. F. Ca. Hof.
Gab. Sco. Tor. Mor.)
“at that time thy people shall be delivered ",—This certainly has not
been true of any period of persecution which the Jewish people (Daniel’s
people) thus far have gone through.
Says Fausset, "the same deliverance of Israel as in Zech. 13.8,9, 'the
third part . . . brought through fire . . . refined as silver’. The remnant in
Israel spared as not having joined in the antichristian blasphemy. This
is not to be confounded with those who shall have confessed Christ before
His second coming, ‘the remnant according to the election of grace’ com¬
posed of both Jews and Gentiles and being part of the Church of the first¬
born, who will share Christ’s Millennial reign in their glorified bodies.
The delivered remnant will only know the Lord Jesus when they see Him,
and when the Spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon them."
“every one that shall be found written in the book of life” ,—This is
by most expositors thought to have reference to the holy remnant of
Daniel’s people. (F. Au. Lee.)
Says Gaebelein, "These are the godly Jews, the believing remnant of
the time of the end. For their sakes the days will be shortened".
235
DANIEL
Keil and Hitzig say the reference is to the “book of life" (Phil. 4.3).
containing the list of the citizens of the Messianic kingdom, and that in
Isa. 4.3 it contains the names of those who reach it while living, but here
in Daniel it contains the names also of those who must first be raised
from the dead.
Zoeckler says, “The book is the same as that mentioned in the similar
passage, Isa. 4.3, and hence the book of life. It is of course not to be
regarded as containing a list of living Israelites; nor, probably as a ‘record
of those who shall be delivered in the decisive hour and be permitted to
live’. It is rather a record of those who shall inherit eternal life, a ‘list of
the subjects of Messiah’s kingdom’, of those who shall stand approved m
the judgment, whether they live until it transpires, or are raised from the
dead to meet it, according to verse 2.” With this view Zoeckler says Hof
man substantially agrees, when he says, “A divine register of Israel, upon
which are entered ail who truly belong to Israel”.
Ver. 2. “ And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake” ,—Gaebelein says physical resurrection is not taught in this verse,
because if it were it would teach a general resurrection and this would clash
with the New Testament teaching concerning the resurrection. He says.
“The passage has nothing to do with physical resurrection. Physical
resurrection is here used merely as a type or figure of the national revival
of Israel in the last day at the end of this age. They have been sleeping
nationally in the dust of the earth, buried among the Gentiles. But at
that time there will take place a national restoration, a bringing back from
dispersion and a bringing together of the house of Judah and of Israel.
It is the same figure as used in the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel 3 1..
and it concerns not the Gentiles but the Jewish people and is a national
restoration and revival of these.”
However, it is practicaly unanimous that the reference is to physical
resurrection. Robinson says, “If a resurrection of the body is not here
declared, it will be difficult to find where it is, or to imagine words in which
it can be.” But even so, Gaebelein's fears are none too well grounded, as
may be seen in quotations, from many commentators, somewhat like the
following from W. J. Erdman: “These words do not teach a general
resurrection. The more literal translation, following Tregelles, would
read, ‘And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
these to everlasting life, and those to shame and everlasting contempt'.
In the light of the context it is clear that the angel is speaking of Daniel’s
own people only. He is bringing together events of ‘the time of the end’,
‘the great tribulation' and ‘deliverance of every one that shall be found
written in the book’, ‘even the remnant in Mount Zion and Jerusalem':
and the other event, the resurrection of the many’ from out of the totality
of the dead of Israel, the resurrection of the unraised belonging to some
distant and undefined day.”
Now if the reference is to a resurrection of the physically dead, then,
if the last part of the preceding chapter and these words as well are to be
referred to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, Daniel either,
(1) thought it was going to take place right after the trouble under
Antiochus Epiphanes, and missed tt, as Hitzig, Bertholdt and
other rationalistic interpreters say he did; or.
236
DANIEL
(2) he projected his vision onward to the period of resurrection
which is still future. This latter view is of course the only
acceptable one and the transition is to be found after the manner
already noted.
Now if the resurrection is a physical future one, to what resurrection
I does it refer?
I. To the general resurrection at the end of all things. (C. Zo. Au.
1 Kl. Zu. St. Hav. Hof. Aug.)
But the connection between the two verses is so close that it would
;seem they must go together, and then, according to the view now under
(scrutiny, the time of trouble, at the end of which all whose names are in
! the book are to be delivered, would be at the same time with this general
resurrection, i. e., just before the end of all time. But this will hardly do.
It would mean that Daniel's people were to continue in bad straits as
ilong as the world lasts and that the last years were to be the worst, and
Ithat they would only be delivered at the last moment of all time. This
(objection is met by some by putting a hiatus between the two verses, thus
(making the deliverance of verse 1 something entirely different from the
irising to everlasting life in verse 2.
An objection is registered against this hiatus, but to us it does not
iseem formidable.
The objection is that it takes away from the deliverance of verse 1
its real significance. But may that deliverance not consist in the deliver¬
ance of the believing living remnant from the oppression of their furious
foes and from the severe judgments which are to come down on unbeliev¬
ing Gentiles and apostate Jews as well, in which case the “book" would
be a register of the living and not of the dead. To those who say the
deliverance of verse 1 is the being raised to everlasting life of verse 2, it is
sufficient to reply that this is not, as we have seen, necessarily so. At least
this deliverance must not be limited to the dead. As between the living
and the dead, it would more naturally refer to the former.
II. To a partial resurrection immediately after the tribulation, and
prior to the last and general resurrection, and one confined to Israel, Daniel’s
own nation. (Fu. Kr. Ko. Hit. Bertholdt and the majority of writers
since him.) There would then be a hiatus, unnoticed by the angel, be¬
tween the rising of the good and the bad; or the content of the passage
may be construed according to the translation of Tregelles, "And many
of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise; these (who arise)
Ishall be unto everlasting life; but those (who do not arise at this time) to
Ishame and everlasting contempt."
Zoeckler argues for the first explanation and against the second as
follows:
(1) The expression, “many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth" is far too general in its character to admit of its being limited to the
deceased of Israel.
(2) The mention of the eternal punishment of the wicked in the
closing words of the verse would be incomprehensible, and serve no purpose,
if they refer only to Israelites who are to be punished eternally.
O) The “many", which primarily implies the immeasurable extent
237
DANIEL
of the multitude of the resurrected dead (Hofmann translates “in multi¬
tudes") may as well designate the entire world of the dead arising from
their graves as a large fraction of.it, in the same way as “many” in the
New Testament is frequently employed as synonymous with “all". (Matt.
20.28; 26.28; I John 2.2; I Cor. 15.22; Rom. 5.12,15,16.)
(4) Even if the earlier prophetic parallels (Isa. 26.19; 66.24; Ezek.
37.1-15), actually do foretell a partial resurrection which is confined to
Israel (which can by no means be proven), this will not involve that the
passage before us has a similar meaning.
(5) If this passage refers exclusively to a particular resurrection of
the Israelites, then there is no place in the Old Testament where any sub¬
stantiation of the doctrine of a general resurrection may be found, and in¬
asmuch as the expectation of such a general resurrection of the dead is
abundantly confirmed in the Apocryphal books (II Mac. 7.14), and in the
New Testament (see especially John 5.28 and Acts 25.15) it ought also
to be confirmed by some Scripture of the Old Testament.
(6) The intimate connection between these verses and the closing
ones of the preceding chapter where the troubles under Antiochus Epiphanes
are set forth does not militate against the universal character of the resur
rection in question. It is evident that in the mind of the prophet that
period of trial was the immediate precursor of the end of the world (!?).
As he viewed it, the end of the persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes and
the advent of the Messiah to introduce a new and eternal period of bless¬
ing were substantially coincident. He saw nothing at all of the long
series of years that were to intervene between these Old Testament 4 woes of
the Messiah’ and His actual birth and incarnation, nor did he observe the
many centuries between His first and second advent, between the beginning
of the end and the ultimate end of all things, because it was inconsistent
with the nature of prophetic vision.
This last statement not only has little if any strength in it, but it
certainly places the prophet in a false light. Daniel does not explicitly
say that these events are simultaneous. He may not have clearly appre¬
hended the length of the interval, but this is no evidence that he did not
know there was any.
Zoeckler says that in the prophet’s mind the universal judgment upon
all flesh at the end time and the judgment that came upon Antiochus
Epiphanes (the first antitypical and the second typical) were identical
and it is therefore arbitrary to refer the judgment here under consideration
to a special judgment over the good and bad of Israel alone, and thus
deprive it of its universal character.
Zoeckler also says it is quite as arbitrary to refer verse 1 to the troubles
under Antiochus Epiphanes and then refer verse 2 to the final time resur¬
rection with an immense chasm between them, of which there is no indica¬
tion in the text. This, however, is not unusual, after the manner of both
Old and New Testament writers or speakers. Besides, Zoeckler must
remember that not every one agrees with him in referring verse 1 to the
times under Antiochus Epiphanes.
Keil remarks that “the angel has it not in view to give a general
statement regarding the general resurrection of the dead, but only discloses
on this point that the final salvation of the people shall not be limited to
238
DANIEL
those still living at the end of the great tribulation, but shall include also
those who have lost their lives during the period of this tribulation,"
Fuller remarks that "the resurrection to shame is merely a passing
observation, which might be omitted from the passage without damaging
its meaning."
Certainly if the first class raised refers to the godly Israelites who
were killed during the great tribulation, the second class can just as readily
refer to the wicked of Daniel's nation whenever raised. The only objec¬
tion of much force among those advanced by Zoeckler is the seemingly
unnecessary limitation of the word “many". Keil, however, says that
the word does not mean "all" and that the partitive interpretation "of"
or "from among" is the only simple and natural one, and therefore, with
most interpreters, he prefers it. Keil, however, does not limit the resurrec¬
tion in question to the Jews, but thinks that the Israel here referred to con¬
sists not merely of Jews or of Jewish Christians, but embraces all the
peoples who belong to God's kingdom of the New Covenant.
III. To a resurrection of the righteous just before Christ's second
coming, and of the wicked at the end of all time, no notice being taken by
the angel of the hiatus between them. (F.)
This places the resurrection of the righteous before the great tribula¬
tion. This is possible, of course, in as much as chronological sequence is
aot always necessarily observed in relating the details of an event. How¬
ever, it is best not to make such transpositions unless absolutely demanded,
and the resurrection in question here certainly is placed by the text after
the time of great trouble.
Then, too, this interpretation takes the reference pretty largely away
from Daniel's own people, inasmuch as many of them will have believed
ay that time. The Jews do not seem to be converted until after the time
af trouble or during it and their experience with the Antichrist.
IV. To a resurrection of all that sleep in the dust after the time of
;reat tribulation; the good, at that very time (immediately after) and the
wicked later at the end of all time, with no notice taken by the angel of the
liatus or intervening time. (Au. Rob. New. Chal.)
According to this view the righteous, the Church, goes through the
:ribulation. This seemingly has more in its favor, and less against it
:han any of the other views, so far as the context is concerned, unless it is
:he first one, and this has other Scriptures which in the minds of many
nilitate against it.
Ver. 3. "they that are wise”, —i. e., the understanding ones of
Zhap. 1 1.33,35.
“shall shine”, etc., —i. e., in the resurrection.
"they that turn many to righteousness”, —i. e., convert many to
ustification through Christ.
Ver. 4. “shut up the words and seal the book", —i. e., the whole
>ook (K. Au. Kl. Hit. Ber.), and not just the final vision of Chap. 11.2 to
Zhap. 12.3 (Zo. Kr. Fu. Hav. Len.).
“shut . , . seal”, —The reference here is to guarding it carefully; not
hat any one may not read it, but that it will be better studied and under-
tood later.
239
DANIEL
“ many shall run to and fro” ,—The word means to run about in
order to search out and investigate. It cannot therefore mean mere in¬
crease of travel. It might mean travel for a purpose, the result of which
is the increase of knowledge, but we prefer rather the meaning of to and
fro in the sense of searching, scrutinizing the prophecy as a result of which
knowledge of it will be increased.
Ver. 5. “other two“, —This refers to two'angels and it is useless
to conjecture who they were.
Ver. 6. “the man clothed in linen", —The mighty angelic prince,
who thus far had been the speaker addressing Daniel; perhaps Christ Him-
self, as Keil, Willet, Gaebelein and others think.
“How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" —i. e., how long
shall the time of great trouble last?
Ver. 7. “a time, times and a half", —i. e., after a time and two
times and a half time, or briefly, after three and one-half years. (Chap.
7.25; 8.14; 9.27.)
“when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the
holy people", —This is a second answer to the question, which substan¬
tially coincides with it as to the time involved.
The literal of “breaking in pieces the power" is “shattering the hand”,
the hand being the emblem of active power. The reading of our text is
supported by many strong authorities. (K. Au. Ma. Kr. Kl. Fu. Ew. Hen.
Hof.) It is to be preferred to that of Zoeckler, “and when the scattering
of a part of the holy people shall have ceased", which rendering is, however,
supported by a number of strong authorities. (Zu. Len. Der. Ber. Ges.
Hav. Lut. Vul. Theo.) It is true the word rendered “shatter’' by our
text is often in prophetic usage rendered “scatter”, but the former is its
more literal meaning; while the metaphorical significance of “hand”, i. e..
power, seems preferable as far more natural and usual than “part”. The
sense is not, however, materially different in either case; the reference being
to the pouring out of the last dregs of the curse on the desolated, holy
people, Israel’s lowest humiliation being the precursor of her exaltation.
The “they" of the text refers to Antichrist and his powers.
Ver. 8. “what shall be the issue of these things", —i. e., by what
event will it be possible to know that the last end has been reached? Daniel
understood the main features of the vision, but not as to the times, and
perhaps especially the reference with which the preceding verse closed.
Ver. 9. The desire of Daniel for knowing more is thus deferred to
“the time of the end". Zoeckler thinks this was to encourage and to
lead to humble submission to the Divine guidance, whose purposes cannot
at first be understood. Fausset says that John’s Revelation in part reveals
what here is veiled.
Ver. 10. “many shall purify themselves . . . white . . refined ",—-
i. e., by persecution and sufferings.
“they that are wise shall understand" ,—Says Fausset, “There is no
need for fuller explanation of the time, for when the predictions so far
given shall have come to pass, the godly shall be purified by the foretold
240
DANIEL
trials, and shall understand that the end is at hand; but the wicked shall
not understand and so shall rush on to their own ruin.”
Vers. 11,12. The first two clauses refer to one and the same
point of time, the three and one-half years beginning with the taking away
of the continual burnt offering and the setting up of the abomination that
maketh desolate.
The difference in the figures has been variously explained. One
thousand two hundred and sixty plus 30 equals 1290 plus 45 equals 1 335.
1. If the figures are applied to the persecution under Antiochus
Epiphanes, the best explanation is that of Stuart. He says the 1290 days
are an exact account of the period of time stated in round numbers as three
and one half years during which the abomination continued. Antiochus
Epiphanes, he says, ordered the sacrifice removed June 1, B. C. 168, and
Maccabaeus restored it Dec. 25, B. C. 165, 1290 days, or approximately
three and one half years, and the 1335 days, that is forty-five days more,
marks the death of Antiochus Epiphanes as reckoned by Klieforth and
others (F. Ju. Ma. Ber. Hav. Len. Wie.) Zoeckler says the tribulation
shall end in 1290, but not completely until 1335 days.
Bleek and Delitzsch say that some fact not now known in history
marks the 1335 days.
Zoeckler, who has contended all along that the whole prophecy should
be applied to Antiochus Epiphanes, says, "We are accordingly compelled to
abandon every attempt to demonstrate an exact correspondence between
the time indicated in the text and the period of Maccabean persecution."
He therefore falls back with Keil upon a symbolical interpretation of the
time element. But if the time element is symbolical only, then why the
changes in the figures and why the exact figures that are given? Since the
exact date of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes is not known, it is difficult
to be certain about this matter if the contents be referred to him.
If the dates be referred to the Antichrist, as they doubtless must be,
if not directly and primarily as we believe, then at least typically, the true
explanation may perhaps be seen in some of the following:
(a) 1260 days marks the fall of the Antichrist; 1290 days, the
restoration of the Jews, and 1335 days, the beginning of the Millennium.
(New.)
(b) 1260 days marks the fall of the Antichrist and the deliverance
of the Jews; 1920 days makes thirty days more during which the con¬
sciences of these Jews are awakened to faith in Christ, and 1335 days gives
forty-five more for the gathering in of the outcast Jews and the full bless¬
ing. (Tre.)
(c) 1260 days marks the fall of the Antichrist; 1290 days gives an
extra month for certain judgment events as mentioned in Matt. 25, and
forty-five days later (1335) the Millennium begins. (Gab.)
Ver. 13. "thou shalt rest",—i. e., in the grave.
“at the end of the days ",—i. e., at the end of the days just under
discussion. Daniel was to go on to the end of his life, was to rest in his
grave and was to rise again, to stand in his own lot, i. e., to enjoy his share
of the promised inheritance.
241
HOSEA
THE BOOK OF
HOSEA
(B. C. 785—B. C. 725)
CHAPTER ONE
10 Yet the number of the children of
Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor num¬
bered; and it shall come to pass that. ] in
the place where it was said unto them,
Ye are not my people, it shall be said
unto them, Ye are the sons of the living
God.
’Or, instead of that which was said
11 And the children of Judah and the
children of Israel shall be gathered to¬
gether, and they shall appoint them¬
selves one head, and shall go up from
the land; for great shall be the day of
Jezreel.
Vers. 10, 11. The Future BLESSING AND RESTORATION OF ISRAEL.
The prophecy of these two verses may be considered, as to its fulfill¬
ment, in any one or all of the following three ways:
1. A literal fulfillment, though in a very small degree, at the return
from Babylonish captivity when some of Israel joined with Judah.
2. A spiritual fulfillment through God's people, Jews and Gentiles,
in Christ, as it is still being fulfilled today. (Romans 9.26.)
3. A complete literal fulfillment at the time of the restoration of the
Jews which is still to come. (Romans 11.26.)
Ver. 10. “children of Israel ”,—Keil refers this to the ten tribes
(Israel) as distinct from the two tribes (Judah) as in verse 7; but it seems
preferable with Schmoller to take the expression here as inclusive of both,
separating them again as the passage does in verse 11.
“in the place* ,—In whatever place—no place in particular,
Ver. 11. “one head ”,—Interpreting this and other expressions of
this verse in harmony with the three views expressed above, the reference
would be as follows: under (1) Zerubbabel; under (2) Christ, the
Head of His Church; under (3) Christ, under Whom the hereafter united
kingdoms of Judah and Israel will be realized at their restoration in Pales¬
tine.
“up from the land ”,—Under (1) from the land of exile, Babylon,
back to Palestine; though Simcox and others make it mean up to Jerusalem
from the Land of Palestine after they have come back; under (2) out of the
sinful life into the Church of Christ marching on to Zion; under (3)
out of the land of strangers, where they are sojourners af this time, back to
Palestine, their own land.
“great shall be the day of Jezreel ”,—This is one of those obscure
expressions where exact interpretation is impossible. It points back to
verse 5 which has to do with a time of defeat for Israel.
Under views (1) and (3) as above the day of Jezreel is called great
perhaps because in that place (the valley of Jezreel) where Israel's bow
was broken, victory shall yet be achieved; and not, as Keil says, “because
242
HOSEA
that defeat formed the critical occasion by which the return of the recreant
Israel and their reunion with Judah was made possible".
Under view (2), on this interpretation, the case is more difficult
since there can be no local reference in the spiritual fulfillment of the words.
The word “Jezreel” literally means, "God sows", and some prefer the
appellative meaning, namely, that the valley of Jezreel where Israel's bow
was broken is to become the place where God sows the seed of their renova¬
tion, the people being planted again in their own land. (F.) This would
)f course be true, though in a secondary sense, even though the other
nterpretation be accepted. Under (2) the appellative meaning would be
r ound in the greatness of God's sowing as He through Christ is planting
he kingdom of God today.
One thing is certain, the prophecy received very little, if any, fulfill-
nent before the time of Christ, that is, according to (1), the first interpre-
ation. The children of Israel did not go back with the children of Judah
ixcept the merest handful; they were not united under one head, the day
)f Jezreel, as explained, was not realized, and they did not become like the
ands of the sea.
Another certain thing is that the prophecy was and is being spiritually
ealized in Christ. The fact, too, that Paul understood this prophecy as
jointing to a spiritual fulfillment, as is clearly proven by Romans 9.26, is
>retty good warrant for taking other and all similar predictions in the same
vay, although it will have to be admitted that many of the details of such
jrophecies, in many cases at least, utterly defy any reasonable interpretation
vhen explanation is attempted in this way.
It remains yet to be said that we can see no prohibitive reason for not
relieving that the literal fulfillment of this prophecy may not yet take
dace as indicated under (3), the third explanation.
:hapter two
14 Therefore, behold. I will allure
her, and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak ’comfortably unto her. 15
And I will give her her vineyards from
thence, and the valley of 2 Achor for a
door of hope; and she shall Make an¬
swer there, as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up out
of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall
be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou
shalt call me 4 Ishi, and shalt call me no
more “Baali. 17 For I will take away
the names of the Baalim out of her
mouth, and they shall no more be Men¬
tioned by their name. 18 And in that
day will I make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, and with the
birds of the heavens, and with the creep¬
ing things of the ground: and I will
break the bow and the sword and the
|Heb. to her heart
"1 1 1 at is, Troubling
3 Or, sing
4 That is. My husband
‘That is. My master
°Or, remembered
battle out of the land, and will make
them to lie down safely. 19 And I will
betroth thee unto me for ever; yea,
I will betroth thee unto me in right¬
eousness, and in justice, and in loving¬
kindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even
betroth thee unto me in faithfulness;
and thou shalt know Jehovah.
21 And it shall come to pass in that
day, I will answer, saith Jehovah, I will
answer the heavens, and they shall
answer the earth; 22 and the earth shall
answer the grain, and the new wine, and
the oil; and they shall answer T Jezreel.
23 And I will sow her unto me in the
s earth; and I will have mercy upon “her
that had not obtained mercy; and I will
say to 10 them that were not my people,
Thou art my people; and they shall say,
Thou art my God.
7 Or, That is, Whom God soweth
"Or. laud
"Hcl>. Lo-ruhamah . See Chap. 1.6
lu Heb. Lo-autmi , See Chap. 1.9,10
243
HOSEA
Vers. 14-23. Israel's CONVERSION AND THE RENEWAL OF THH
Covenant.
Ver. 14. “Therefore”, —A conclusion drawn from the whole pre¬
ceding section, i. e., because the punishment of Israel for her sins has effected
its designed end and caused her to long for. God.
“lure”, —i. e. f in a friendly sense.
“into the wilderness”, —The land of their captivity was to be to them
a wilderness for a disciplinary test (Deut. 8.2,3,15,16) where under
humbling providences they were made to be humble, where in poverty they
were made to be poor in spirit, etc.
Ver. 15. “vineyards from thence”, —i. e., as soon as they arrive
within the borders of Canaan, returning from the wilderness.
“valley of Achor” ,—It was in this valley on the edge of Canaan
returning from Egypt that Israel was deprived of the favor of God by the
sin of Achan, and where this favor was restored when the camp was purged,
and thus what seemed to be the valley of destruction became the door of
hope. And so the very trouble of Israel’s wilderness state will be the door
of hope opening to better days.
“make answer there”, —Israel will cry out in answer toward the place
where the Lord comes to meet her (verse 14), thankfully acknowledging
the tokens of His love and answering to them by suitable conduct.
Wolfendale and all English expositors interpret the word "sing” in¬
stead of “make answer”, with special allusion to the song of Miriam and
the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea. In this they interpret with the
Authorized Version, but we prefer with Hengstenberg and all German
expositors the rendering of the Revised Version, “make answer”, which
both adheres to the more literal meaning of the words and corresponds
better to the changed character of the people.
Ver. 16. “Ishi ”,—meaning literally, "my husband”. She will
recognize Jehovah as her true spouse.
“no more Baali ”,—meaning literally "my master”. She will use
this expression no more because it had been perverted (verse 17) to express
the images of Baal whose name ought not to be taken upon their lips, ll
would be possible thus to outwardly call upon Jehovah but at the same
time to have Baal in their minds.
Ver. 18. “in that day ”,—In the day of their conversion when they
have done forever with their idols.
“for them” ,—i. e., for their benefit.
“covenant with the beasts”, —Therefore the beasts are not to injure
them. Said perhaps by way of contrast with verse 12. It would seem
that this is a promise to be fully realized only in the Millennium.
“lie down safely”, —i. e., cause them to be at rest, war having ceased.
Ver. 20. “shall know Jehovah”, —i. e., experimentally, and thus 1
be saved.
Ver. 21. We have here the grain, the new wine and the oil, the earth,
and the heavens personified.
244
HOSEA
Ver. 22. The grain appeals to the earth, the earth (verse 21)
appeals to the heavens and the heavens to God, and thus the grain, the new
wine and the oil can answer Jezreel, i. e., Israel, "the sown of God",
planted anew by divine grace. It is to be recalled here that the appellative
meaning of the word " Jezreel” is "God soweth".
Of this prophecy we have to say like that of Chap. 1 (a) that
it received only the smallest and feeblest fulfillment in the return of the
Jews from exile, (b) that it was spiritually realized in fullness in Christ,
the Messiah, and (c) that we see no insurmountable reason why its literal
fulfillment may not yet be looked for in the promised land.
CHAPTER THREE
5 afterward shall the children of Israel
return, and seek Jehovah their God. and
David their king, and shall come with
fear unto Jehovah and to His goodness
in the latter days.
Ver. 5. The Future Davidic Kingdom.
“afterward”, —i. e., after the “many days” of verse 4.
“David their king ”,—The Messiah of course is meant, a king of the
family of David.
“the latter days ”,—The Messianic days.
This has not as yet taken place, save as we look upon Israel in a
spiritual way as the children of God of this dispensation, but may it not be
that the Jewish nation will yet return and seek Jehovah their God.
CHAPTER SIX
2 After two days will he revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
and we shall live before him.
Ver. 2. The Certainty of Israel's Restoration.
The linking of days in this way is a method of expressing the cer¬
tainty of an event within the period named, and it is used here only in
the sense of a formula expressing what shall certainly take place at a
future day.
“raise up ”,—This can appropriately be thought of as an expression
of physical resurrection used to illustrate Israel's restoration, and it is not
impossible therefore to find here a reference to the resurrection of Christ,
the ideal Israel, Israel's restoration being taken as a type of our resurrection
of which Christ is the firstfruits. (F. Ho. Wo. Pu.) This reference is,
however, a very doubtful one and is opposed by Schmoller and the ma¬
jority of the best students of this text.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
8 How shall I give thee up. Ephraim?
how shall I cast thee off, Israel? how
shall I make thee as Admah? how shall
I set thee as Zeboiim ? my heart is
turned within me. my compassions are
kindled together. 9 I will not execute
245
HOSEA
the fierceness of mine anger, I will not he will roar, and the children shall come
return to destroy Ephraim: for I am trembling from the west. 11 They
God, and not man: the Holy One in shall come trembling as a bird out of
the midst of thee; and I will not 'come Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of
in wrath. 10 They shall walk after Assyria: and I will make them to dwell
Jehovah, who will roar like a lion; for in their houses, saith Jehovah.
’Or, enter into the city
Vers. 8-11. Jehovah’s Purpose to Restore Israel.
These verses refer to God’s longing for Ephraim, the ten tribes, and
His intention to bring them back from their dispersion.
He will “not give them up’ (verse 8) ; He will "not come in wrath"
(the best translation of the last clause of verse 9); He will "roar like a
lion” against their enemies (verse 10), and He will “make them to dwell
in their houses’ (verse 11).
The same thing must be said as to the fulfillment of this prophecy as
was said of those of the chapters which have gone before.
CHAPTER TWELVE
9 But I am Jehovah thy God from
the land of Egypt; I will yet again
make thee to dwell in tents, as in the
days of the solemn feast.
Ver. 9. Future Blessing and Restoration Again Promised.
When this promise is fulfilled it will be in remembrance (dwell in
tents) of this their new deliverance out of bondage.
This prophecy had its primary, but only partial fulfillment, in the
return from Babylon. (Neh. 8.17.) Those, however, who look beyond
the spiritual fulfillment of this day, and see in all such passages a prophecy
of literal fulfillment, refer the fulfillment of this prophecy to the time of
final restoration from the present dispersion. (Lev. 23.42,43; Zech.
14.6.)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
14 I will ransom them from the plagues? O Sheol, 2 where is thy de
'power of Sheol; I will redeem them struction? Repentance shall be hid from
from death: O death ‘where are thy mine eyes.
‘Heb. hand. -Or, / will be
Ver. 14. The Blessing of Israel in the Future Kingdom.
These words are evidently to be taken in the sense of a promise, find¬
ing their fulfillment, as the other prophecies noted, partially in the restora¬
tion of Israel from Assyria: fully in a spiritual sense in Christ, Israel in
this sense being the Israel of God, the New Testament Church of Christ;
and finally, in keeping with other such passages, many see the literal ful¬
fillment in the yet future restoration of Israel from their present dispersion
and national death.
Because the verse before and after and all the chapter is a threat.
Schmoller and others say that a promise is here unsuitable and accordingly
246
JOEL
make the clauses of the verse all questions implying a negative answer.
But this inference is rather forced and the reading of our text is preferred
by the majority.
The Septuagint translates after the manner of I Cor. 15.55, and
from this Paul no doubt quoted. The verse is expressed in language allud¬
ing to the ideal Israel, and His victory over death and the grave, His own
resurrection being the firstfruits of the full harvest to come in the resur¬
rection at the end.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel; he
shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth
his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread and his
beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his
smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow
shall return; they shall revive as the
grain, and blossom as the vine, ’the
scent thereof shall be as the wine of
Lebanon.
'Or, his memorial
Vers. 5-7. The Effects of the Lord's Love Rich in Blessing on
Israel.
Ver. 5. The dew falls copiously in the east; no plant is more pro¬
ductive than the lily, one root often producing fifty bulbs; while the trees
of Lebanon cast down their roots as deeply as their height upwards, so
that they are immovable.
Ver. 6. The olive never loses its verdure, while the fragrance of
Lebanon with its cedars and aromatic shrubs is proverbial.
Ver. 7. The members of Israel (the first "they”) are here distin¬
guished from Israel as a whole (the second "they”). The shadow men¬
tioned here is Israel's and not God’s, it being necessary that we hold to the
same reference here as in verse 6. They that used to dwell under Israel’s
shadow, but who shall have been forced to leave it, shall return and be
restored.
"the scent thereof”, —i. e., of Israel’s fame.
THE BOOK OF
JOEL
(B. C. 800)
The book of Joel falls easily into two divisions, Chap. 1.1 to Chap.
2.17, setting forth judgment upon the Gentiles, and Chap. 2.18 to Chap.
3.21 the promises of blessing for Israel.
CHAPTER ONE
4 That which ’the palmer-worm hath which the locust hath left hath ’the
left hath the locust eaten; and that canker-worm eaten; and that which the
’Probably, different kinds of locusts, or lo»
usts In different stages of growth.
247
JOEL
canker-worm hath left hath 'the cater¬
pillar eaten.
6 For a nation is come up upon my
land, strong, and without number; his
teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath
the jaw-teeth of a lioness.
15 Alas for the day! for the day of
Jehovah is at hand, and as destruction
from the Almighty shall it come.
Vers, 4,6,15. The Beginning of the Day of Jehovah.
Is this description in the first chapter that of a plague of real locusts
in Joel's time or is it an allegorical prediction of a coming invasion by
some hostile human army? A good case can be made out for either view.
In either case, however, it is an earnest or portent of a coming greater
calamity.
Arguments for the Allegorical View: (The Fathers, older expositors
and more recently Po. Gr. Hav. Hen. Ber.)
1. Locusts are a natural figure for hostile invaders. (See Rev. 9.3-1 2
where they are allegorical.)
2. The scourge is called the "Northerner”, while locusts come from
the south. (Chap. 2.20.)
3. The agent is described as a responsible one. (Chap. 2.20.)
4. The imagery goes beyond the effects of locusts and threatens fire,
drought, plague and assault upon cities. (Chaps. 1.19,20 and
2 . 6 .)
5. Prayer is to be made for a removal of the scourge that the heathen
may not rule over them. (Chap. 2.17.)
6. The scourge was to be destroyed in a way physically inapplicable
to locusts. (Chap. 2.20.)
7. Ravages are to be remedied which locusts could not inflict, i. e.,
Judah's captivity is to be turned and the land is to be recovered
from the foreigners. (Chap. 3.1,17.)
Arguments for the Literal View: (Sco.)
1. Joel addresses his own contemporaries and not a future generation.
(Chap. 1.2.)
2. The plague had occurred “before our own eyes’. (Chap. 1.16.)
3. He asks the old men if the like had ever occurred in their day.
(Chap 1.2.)
4. The description is that of a physical and not a political plague,
i. e., fields stripped, seeds shrivel, drought, etc.
5. He never hints at the invariable effects of human invasion, i. e..
plunder, massacre, bloodshed, etc.
6. The losses restored are the years which this army had eaten.
(Chap. 2.25.)
7. He tells them to hand the story down to future generations.
(Chap. 1.3.)
8. The locusts are compared to actual soldiers—run like horses, leap
like mei, climb, etc.; he never would have compared a real army
to itself.
9. The name "Northerner” is typical of doom, a name employed
always to express the instrument of God’s wrath, and so Joel
applies it to his fateful locusts.
248
JOEL
10. " that the heathen may not rule over them" may, it is said, be
translated with equal propriety, "that the heathen may not make
satirical song about them", or "use a byword against them". (See
margin.)
11. The assault on cities may be applied to locusts as well as to a
human army; the expression, "s teal in at the windows" being
more applicable to the locusts than to a human army.
12. There is little if any force in what the Allegorists say about the
responsible agent, as Chap. 2.20 may also be applied to locusts.
The balance of the argument we feel to be strongly in favor of the
literal view, namely, that Joel was describing a plague of devouring locusts
in his own day. This plague is shown, however, to have a spiritual
significance, and is made the occasion for the prophecy of the day of the
Lord in its two aspects of judgment on the Gentiles and blessing for Israel,
this " day of the Lord" being more fully developed in the second chapter,
where the literal locusts are left behind and the future "day of the Lord"
fills the scene.
Ver. 4. Four successive swarms of locusts are described, literally,
the "Shearer", the "Swarmer", the "Lapper" and the "Devourer", the
same being four different poetic names for the locusts.
Ver. 6.
tt ■ m
nation ,
-The word used for nation here is one that has
in it the idea of hostility, and is here used of locusts.
Ver. 15. " Alas for the day", —i. e., the day then present in which
the plague of the locusts was upon them. This day was so terrible that it
might well be thought of as the beginning of the "Day of the Lord",
which Joel describes as "at hand".
"the day of Jehovah", —This is always a day of judgment, a day of
His anger. That the immediate reference is to the day then present is to
be seen in the fact that in the next verse Joel returns at once to the devasta¬
tion of the land then going on. However in this mention of the " day of
Jehovah" may be seen a typical significance, a reference to the worse
calamities about to come on them of which the locusts were but the prelude.
Verse 11 introduces an unusual drought, while verses 19 and 20
refer to the effect of the parching heat. Some refer the "fire" to forest fires.
CHAPTER TWO
Here it would seem the prophet passes into allegory and foretells a
coming judgment through the invasion of a heathen army, and this he
does under an imagery drawn from their then present experience of the
locust plague.
1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and
sound an alarm in my holy mountain;
let all the inhabitants of the land trem¬
ble: for the day of Jehovah cometh,
for it is nigh at hand; 2 a day of dark¬
ness and gloominess, a day of clouds
and thick darkness, as the dawn spread
upon the mountains; a great people and
a strong; there hath not been ever the
like, neither shall be any more after
them, even to the years of many gener¬
ations. 3 A fire devoureth before them;
and behind them a flame burneth: the
land is as the garden of Eden before
249
JOEL
them, and behind them a desolate wil¬
derness: yea, and none hath escaped
them.
4 The appearance of them is as the
appearance of horses: and as ‘horsemen,
so do they run. 5 Like the noise of
chariots on the tops of the mountains
do they leap, like the noise of a flame
of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a
strong people set in battle array.
6 At their presence the peoples are
in anguish: all faces are waxed pale. 7
They run like mighty men: they climb
the wall like men of war: and they
march every one on his ways, and they
break not their ranks. 8 neither doth
5 0r, war-horses
one thrust another: they march every
one in his path; and J they burst through
the weapons, and 3 break not off their
course. 9 They leap upon the city;
they run upon the wall; they climb
up into the houses; they enter in
at the windows like a thief. 10 The
earth quaketh before them; the heavens
tremble; the sun and the moon are
darkened, and the stars withdraw their
shining. 11 And Jehovah uttereth his
voice before his army; for his camp is
very great; for he is strong that execut-
eth his word; for the day of Jehovah
is great and very terrible: and who can
abide it?
*Or, when they fall around the weapons,
they &c
®Or, are not wounded
Vers. 1-11. The Invading Army from the North.
Ver. 1. The priests were to sound the alarm horn to apprise the
people of the coming judgment.
Ver. 2. " A day of darkness", —This is a fit image of the coming
day, suggested by the sun being obscured by swarms of locusts.
"as the dawn spread upon the mountains", —In the word " spread" is
to be found the idea of beaten down, scattered, crushe.d by and with a mass
of clouds as if in conspiracy to prolong the night. So shall come a great
people and strong, bringing with them a day of darkness, etc. There may
be a reference in the expression to the shining or the yellow light reflected
by the rays of the sun from the wings of a swarm of locusts. (K. Ma.)
Some find the principal comparison in the rapidity with which and
the wide extent over which the dawn spreads itself,—so shall a numerous
people overspread the land. (Ma. Ba.)
Ver. 3. The word "them" throughout the verse refers to the army
before the prophet's vision.
Ver. 4. " The appearance of them", —i. e., of the figurative locusts,
the army before the prophet's vision.
Ver. 7. This imagery is drawn from the well-known military order
in the advance of swarms of locusts.
Ver. 8. They do not push each other out of their place.
Ver. 9. This verse completes the description, and together with
verses 7 and 8 gives us a picture which is exactly true to nature. They
rush through the weapons, the darts, and their ranks are not broken.
Ver. 11. "his army", —Scofield takes verses 1 to 10 as descriptive
of the invading army and verse 11 as referring to Jehovah’s army which is
to be marshaled against the invaders, the army, he says, being that which is
described in Rev. 19.11-18, the battle foretold being that of Armageddon.
But inasmuch as the reference is still to the day of Jehovah, even as in
verse 1, there is no good reason why the anti typical human foes of Judea,
of which the locusts are figures, should not be considered as the army of
250
JOEL
Jehovah coming in judgment upon them. There can be, however, on the
other hand no forcible objection to taking this army as Scofield does, if the
chapter is to be referred to the still future day of Jehovah.
Vers. 12-17. A CALL TO REPENTANCE.
The reference to the “meal offering ”, etc., in verse 14 finds its mean¬
ing in that God may give plentiful harvests so that these things could once
more be offered.
Vers. 18-27. The Lord’s Promise of Deliverance.
Ver. 20. " the northern army”, —Some take this as indicative of
the Chaldeans and the Syrians, while others, thinking of the day of the
Lord in the end time refer it to the Gentile world-powers headed up under
the Beast and the false prophet. (Rev. 16,14.)
“eastern sea . . . western sea”, —The Dead Sea and the Mediterranean.
“stench shall come up”, —A metaphor from locusts which perish,
when blown by a storm into the sea or the desert, and emit a stench from
their putrefying bodies.
Ver. 23. “the former rain”, —The Autumn rain.
“in just measure”, —i. e., as much as the land required. Literally it
reads "according to right".
“the latter rain”, —The Spring rain.
“in the first month”, —i. e., in the month when first it is needed.
Some, who take Chap. 1 as allegorical prediction, see in the four
kinds of locusts the four great world-powers, Babylon, Medo-Persia,
Greece and Rome. (F. Hen., and the Jews in general.)
28 And it shall come to pass after¬
ward, that I will pour out my Spirit
upon all flesh: and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men
shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions: 29 and also upon the
servants and upon the handmaids in
those days will I pour out my Spirit.
30 And I will show wonders in the
heavens and in the earth; blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before the great and
terrible day of Jehovah cometh. 32 And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of Jehovah shall
be delivered; for in mount Zion and in
Jerusalem there shall be those that escape,
as Jehovah hath said, and 'among the
remnant those whom Jehovah doth call.
’Or, in the remnant whom, &c.
Vers. 28-32. The Promise of Spiritual Gifts.
Ver. 28. Regardless of how the previous portion of this chapter is
taken, it is certain that this verse and all that follows has a remote and
ultimate reference.
“afterward” ,—This expression is a bit more indefinite but clearly
identical with the formula used by the later prophets. It come from the
Hebrew word meaning "latter", "last", and refers to the last days, the
days under the Messiah after the deliverance of Israel from the northern
army. The prophecy was fulfilled in Acts 2.17, but only in its beginning.
Peter said the promise was also “to all that are afar off” (both in space
and time), and thus while it has a partial and continuous fulfillment during
251
JOEL
the “last days’* which began with the first advent of Christ, its final and
greater fulfillment awaits the “last days’ as applied to the ultimate “end
time.”
“upon all flesh”, —Not merely on a privileged few, as the prophets of
the Old Testament, but upon mankind generally. (F. Pu. Sch.) Some
think that the Jews only were in Joel’s mind and that in his mind the
heathen were to be destroyed. (George Adam Smith.)
“prophesy . . . dream . . . see visions”, —The three modes whereby
God revealed Himself under the Old Testament. Prophesying, here, does
not relate so much to foretelling events but to preaching, speaking and wit¬
nessing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Ver. 30. Here begins a description of the cosmical signs preceding
the day of the Lord.
This outpouring of the Spirit is viewed by the prophet as connected
with the great day of the Lord and as a sign of its coming. It is described
here only in a general way, its actual coming being set forth in Chap. 3.
What the form of these phenomena shall be it is idle to conjecture. The
allusion may be to the massacres and conflagrations attendant upon the
destruction of Jerusalem as a type and earnest of the more terrible con¬
vulsions to occur before the final destruction of the ungodly world.
Ver. 32. “shall be delivered”, —As Christians were delivered from
the destruction of Jerusalem by retiring to Pella, warned by the Saviour s
utterance (Matt. 24.16), which was a type of the spiritual deliverance
of all believers and of the last deliverance of the “elect remnant".
“in mount Zion and in Jerusalem” ,—Not to be taken in a local sense.
“as Jehovah hath said ”,—In Joel’s own preceding words (F.), in
Obadiah (K.), in an older writing of Joel (Ew.), in a lost prophecy
(Mei.).
“among the remnant”, —There shall be among them those whom the
Lord shall call. The word literally means “the escaped".
“doth call’, —i. e., according to the election of grace. (Rom. 11.5.)
(F. Sch., and most older and later expositors.)
CHAPTER THREE
1 For, behold, in those days, and in
that time, when I shall : bring back the
captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I
will gather all nations, and will bring
them down into the valley of Jehosa-
phat; and I will execute judgment upon
them there for my people and for my
heritage Israel, whom they have scat¬
tered among the nations: and they have
parted my land, 3 and have cast lots
for my people, and have given a boy
for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine,
that they may drink. 4 Yea, and what
are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and
'Or, return to
all the regions of Philistia? 'will ye
render me a recompense? and if ye
recompense me. swiftly and speedily will
I return your Recompense upon your
own head. 5 Forasmuch as ye have
taken my silver and my gold, and have
carried into your temples my goodly
precious things. 6 and have sold the
children of Judah and the children of
Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians,
that ye may remove them far from their
border: 7 behold, I will stir them up
out of the place whither ye have sold
them, and will return your Recompense
*Or, ivill ye repay a deed, of mine, or will ye
do aught unto me? swiftly drc.
8 Or, deed
252
JOEL
upon your own head; 8 and I will sell shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to
your sons and your daughters into the a nation far off; for Jehovah hath
hand of the children of Judah, and they spoken it.
Vers. 1-8. The Restoration of Israel and the Judgment of
Gentile Nations.
Ver. I. "For”, —He is now to explain in detail what he had before
mentioned in general.
"in those days”, —i. e., the days to come, the “afterward" of the
previous chapter.
"when I shall bring back the captivity”, —This shows distinctly the
object of the day of the Lord, namely, the bringing of deliverance to the
people of God. To "bring back” means to reverse, to make an end of.
Ver. 2. "all nations”, —Primarily those that have offended against
Israel but inclusive of the heathen world in general.
"valley of Jehosaphat ”,—This is the valley where Jehosaphat gained
his victory over the Gentile army and is southwest of Jerusalem, and was
called "the valley of Berachah (blessing) unto this day” (II Chron. 20).
The valley between Jerusalem and the mount of Olives on the east was
first called the valley of Jehosaphat in the fourth century and was there¬
fore not so known in Joel’s day. Jehosaphat means “Jehovah judges",
and the expression used by Joel is no doubt a general term signifying the
theatre of God's judgment on the nations, although undoubtedly the
imagery was furnished to Joel by that great deliverance which God gave
to Jehosaphat in II Chron. 20.
"execute judgment”, —This is a much to be preferred rendering to
“plead with" of the Authorized Version.
Ver. 3. A war custom of the heathen of that time in dealing with
their captives.
Ver. 4. "render me a recompense”, —i. e., injure me (my people)
for fancied wrongs. God here identifies Himself with His people.
"what are ye to me ”,—He counts them as aliens; they have no part
in Him. The nations here mentioned had committed such crimes as those
referred to.
Ver. 5. This alludes without doubt to II Chron. 21.16,17.
Vers. 7,8. Fulfilled by Alexander the Great. (Fa. Sch.)
"Sabeans”, —These people occupied the remote extremity of Arabia
Felix and were probably a partner with Tyre in slave selling.
"far off”, —The remotest nation in the opposite direction from
Greece.
9 Proclaim ye this among the na¬
tions; prepare war; stir up the mighty
men; let all the men of war draw
near, let them come up. 10 Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your
pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak
’Heb. sanctify
say, I am strong. 11 2 Haste ye, and
come, all ye nations round about, and
gather yourselves together; thither cause
thy mighty ones to come down, O Jeho¬
vah. 12 Let the nations bestir them¬
selves, and come up to the valley of
' 2 Or, Assemble yourselves
253
JOEL
’Jehosaphat: for there will 1 sit to judge
all the nations round about. 13 Put
ye in the sickle: for the ‘harvest is
ripe: come, 6 tread ye: for the winepress
is full, the vats overflow: for their
wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes ip the val¬
ley of decision! for the day of Jehovah
3 That is, Jehovah judgeth
*()»", vintage
s Or, get you down
Vers. 9-16. The Day of the Lord in Retrospect.
Ver. 9. The nations are here summoned to come against Jerusalem
not to destroy it but to be destroyed.
" Proclaim . . . prepare’ \—This is addressed not to the Jews but to
the heathen nations, i. e., to their heralds who are to summon them to
war. The word “prepare" is literally "sanctify" and Schmoller says it
cannot therefore be referred to the heathen. But it is the same word exactly
as used when Babylon was called upon to prepare war against Jerusalem
(Jer. 6.4), and it is a well known fact that the heathen usually begin war
with religious ceremonies.
Ver. 10. “let the weak say I am strong",—So mad shall be the fury
of the world against God's people that even the feeble will not desire to be
exempted from warring against them.
Ver. 1 1. “thither cause thy mighty ones to come down", —This is a
prayer by Joel. The “mighty ones" are God’s really mighty ones in con¬
trast to the self-styled mighty ones of verse 9. Keil without warrant
refers these to angels.
Ver. 12. “round about", —Not merely, as Henderson says, "round
about Jerusalem", but all the nations from all parts who have maltreated
the people of God. Thus also in verse 11.
Ver. 13. God directs the ministers of His vengeance to execute His
wrath. His command is to His mighty ones. His enemies are to be cut
down like ripe grain and trodden (crushed) like grapes in the winepress.
Ver. 14. “valley of decision", —i. e., the valley of judgment, the
place where the Judge renders His decision.
Ver. 16. “Jehovah will roar", —i. e., as a lion. It will be found
that wherever this expression occurs it is in connection with the destruction
of Gentile dominion (Jer. 25.30; Amos 1.2; 3.8; Isa. 42.13), and while
it may have a near fulfillment it always looks forward to a vaster and more
ultimate one.
is near in the valley of decision. 1 5 The
sun and the moon are darkened, and the
stars withdraw their shining. 16 And
Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter
his voice from Jerusalem: and the heav¬
ens and the earth shall shake: but Jeho¬
vah will be a refuge unto his people,
and a stronghold to the children of
Israel.
1 7 So shall ye know that 1 am Jeho¬
vah your God, dwelling in Zion in my
holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be
holy, and there shall no strangers pass
through her any more.
18 And it shall come to pass in that
day. that the mountains shall drop
down sweet wine, and the hills shall
flow with milk, and all the brooks of
Judah shall flow with waters: and a
fountain shall come forth from the
house of Jehovah, and shall water x the
valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and
1 That is, the valley of acacias
254
JOEL
Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for
the violence done to the children of
Judah, because they have shed innocent
blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall 'abide forever,
•Or, be inhabited
fers. 17-21.
and Jerusalem from generation to gener¬
ation.
21 And I will ’cleanse their blood,
that I have not cleansed; for Jehovah
dwelleth in Zion.
3 Or, hold as innocent
The Blessings of the Coming Kingdom.
Vcr. 17. “there shall no strangers pass through”, —i. e., to attack
r defile.
Ver. 18. “mountains drop wine . . . hills flow with milk”, —Figur-
tive expressions for abundance of vines, and flocks yielding milk plenti-
illy.
“a fountain shall come forth”, —Here is a reference to the gushing
nd ever-flowing fountain of water under the temple. Thus blessings
oth temporal and spiritual shall issue from the house of God.
“valley of Shittim”, —This is a valley on the border between Moab
ad Israel beyond the Jordan, an arid desert where the Acacia (sandal¬
wood) grows.
Ver. 19. Egypt and Edom are mentioned because of their violence
gainst the children of Judah and are taken as representatives of the ene-
lies of Israel in general. (Amos 1.11; Oba. 10; Jer. 49.17.)
When Joel made this prophecy there were no symptoms whatsoever
f decay on the part of the countries mentioned and yet how wonderfully
as the prophecy been fulfilled.
Ver. 21. “I will cleanse their blood”, —It means to pronounce
inocent, to free from guilt. Thus Judah was to be purged from her
uilt (the shedding of blood), the climax of her sin which for long had
een visited with judgments.
Nowack and Schmoller render, "I will avenge Israel's blood", i. e.,
will not leave unpunished the shedders of it. The first explanation,
iowever, adheres more closely to the original meaning of the word.
That Joel's prophecy is to find its final and completest fulfillment
a “the last day”, in times yet to come, is the usually accepted view. As
chmoller says, "The final and complete fulfillment will come only with
he consummation of the kingdom at the Parousia, or Second Advent of
>ur Lord."
This explanation of the prophecy is favored by;
1. The usual two-fold application of this and similar prophecies.
2. Peter's statement that the promise is "unto them that are afar off".
3. The as yet unfulfilled verses 17 (of which the very opposite is as
yet the case), 18 and 20.
Says Farrar, "By the expression 4 a great people’ in Chap. 2.2, the
lost of Assyria may be primarily meant (Isa. 37.36), but ultimately the
ast antichristian confederacy destroyed by special divine interposition is
neant, and while Chap. 2.28 was fulfilled in earnest at Pentecost, it will
>e hereafter more fully fulfilled at the restoration of Israel (Isa. 53.13; Jer.
i 1.9,34; Ezk. 39.29; Zech. 12.10) and the consequent conversion of
he whole world, (Isa. 11,9; 66.18-23; Mic. 5.7; Rom. 11.12,15),
255
AMOS
and while the reference of verse 16 of this last chapter may be to the
victories of the Jews over their cruel foe Antiochus Epiphanes, under the
Maccabees, the ultimate reference is to the last Antichrist of whom Anti¬
ochus Epiphanes was but the type."
Scofield says, "The whole picture is of the end-time of this present
age, of the 'times of the Gentiles'; of the battle of Armageddon; of the re-
gathering of Israel and of kingdom blessing. The order of events is: (1)
The invasion of Palestine from the north by Gentile world-powers headed
up under the Beast and the false prophet (Joel 2.1-10. See Rev. 16.14) ;
(2) the Lord's army and the destruction of the invaders (Joel 2.11; Rev.
19.11-21; (3) the repentance of Judah in the land (Joel 2.1 2-1 7; Deut.
30.1-9); (4) the answer of Jehovah (Joel 2.18-27); (5) the effusion
of the Spirit in the (Jewish) 'last days' (Joel 2.28,29; (6) the return oj
the Lord in glory and the setting up of the kingdom (Joel. 2.30-32; Ad;
15.15-17) by the regathering of the nation and the judgment of the
nations (Joel 3.1-16); (7) the full and permanent blessing (Joel 3.17
21; Zech. 14.1-21; Matt. 25.32)."
THE BOOK OF
AMOS
(B. C. 787—B. C. 763)
Amos prophesied in the northern kingdom (Israel). Within fift^
years his warnings were fulfilled, the kingdom being utterly destroyed
The vision of Amos, however, did not stop with the northern kingdom
but included in certain respects the whole "house of Jacob".
The judgment on Judah was fulfilled in the seventy years' captivity
and that on Israel, the northern kingdom, in the world-wide dispersioi
which continues to the present day.
CHAPTER FIVE
1 6 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the
God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall
be in all the broad ways; and they shall
say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and
they shall call the husbandman to
mourning, *and such as are skillful in
lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all
vineyards shall be wailing; for I will
pass through the midst of thee, saith
Jehovah.
T c l>. and proclaim wailing to such as are
skillful in lamentation
18 Woe unto you that desire the
day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye
have the day of Jehovah? It is dark¬
ness, and not light. 19 As if a man
did flee from a lion, and a bear met
him; ‘or went into the house and
leaned his hand on the wall, and a ser¬
pent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of
Jehovah be darkness, and not light?
even very dark, and no brightness in it?
J Or, and
Vers. 16-20. The Day of Jehovah, a Day of Righteous Retribu
TION.
Ver. 16. “Therefore ",—God foresees that they will not obey th
exhortation. The sense of the verse is that on every side there will be dca<
to mourn for.
256
AMOS
“such as are skillful in lamentation to wailing' —The professional
mourners who were employed at funerals. Not only these, but the hus¬
bandmen were called to mourn, inasmuch as there will not be enough
of the former because of the universal mourning which will prevail.
Ver. 1 7. “in all the vineyards shall be wailing", —As in the cities,
so in the land among the vineyards where usually songs of joy were heard,
there will be the death-wail.
“for I will pass through the midst of thee", —Said perhaps with an
allusion to Exodus 12.12, as if what happened in Egypt at the smiting
of the first born would be repeated.
Ver. 18. “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord", —Because
they fancied that they, the carnal Israel, and the true people of God were
identical, and that this day must of course bring to them as well as to the
rest o c Israel deliverance from distress, as well as great joy and glory.
Therefore they did not scruple to say in irony, as if in ridicule of the
threatening of Amos, that they desired the day of the Lord to come.
Would not that be a day of victory to Israel? But the prophet tells them
that for them it would be a calamity and a day of righteous retribution.
Ver. 19. Therefore should they escape one danger they would the
more certainly fall into another. The figures are taken from everyday life
and are quite clear as to their meaning.
“leaned his hand on the wall" ,—i. e., to support himself from fall¬
ing. Serpents often hide themselves in a fissure in the wall.
CHAPTER EIGHT
In this chapter, under the symbol of a basket of summer fruit, Israel
is shown to be a people ripened by sin for the severe judgment of destruc¬
tion pronounced upon them. So many shall be the dead that in every
place they shall cast them forth in silence, meaning perhaps that the terror
of God and the dread of the enemy would make them afraid to speak (verse
3). “In that day", i. e., the day of judgment mentioned by the prophet,
the sun will go down at noon and the earth will tremble. The primary
reference of these severe pronouncements is, of course, to the calamity that
came upon Israel fifty years later, but the bold and startling language with
which the predictions are clothed shows that they look forward to a vaster
fulfillment in time still future, and that the whole is a type of the judg¬
ments upon the ungodly people in the great day of accounts.
CHAPTER NINE
1 I saw the Lord standing 'beside the
altar; and he said. Smite the capitals,
that the thresholds may shake; and
break them in pieces on the head of all
of them; and I will slay the last of
them with the sword; 'there shall not
'(>1 . nfioti
'<)r, he that fleet h of them .shall not flee
it'e iv. and he that es< afieth of them shall nut
t>e </<•/, vercH.
one of them flee away, and there shall
not one of them escape.
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jeho¬
vah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I
will destroy it from off the face of the
earth; save that I will not utterly de-
257
AMOS
stroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.
9 For, lo. I will command, and I will
"sift the house of Israel among all the
nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve,
s Heb. cans* to move to and fro.
yet shall not the least kernel fall upon
the earth. 10 All the sinners of my
people shall die by the sword, who say.
The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.
Vers. 1,8-10. A VISION OF JEHOVAH EXECUTING JUDGMENT.
Ver. 1. It is difficult to know whether this judgment is to be taken
as upon Israel alone, or upon both Israel and Judah. If upon the former
then the “altar" is in the idolatrous temple at Bethel (F. He. Sm. Gr. Sch.).
but if upon both Israel and Judah, the “altar" is at Jerusalem (K. C. Fai.
Fal. Hen.). The latter view makes the exegesis a bit smoother; but inas¬
much as Amos was a prophet especially for Israel, and the book has been
largely devoted to Israel, and because of the connection (Chap. 8.14) the
altar at Bethel, which is denounced in other parts of the book (Chap.
3.14; 4.4), seems to be the one in the vision, and it would therefore seem
best to apply the chapter with its judgment to Israel, although there is to
be sure a reference to Judah in verse 11.
Ver. 8. “the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful king¬
dom", —Here the difficulty begins. The “house of Jacob" would seem
to belong to the kingdom of Judah, and if we make “the sinful kingdom "
to be Israel only, then the exception, the house of Jacob, would lie outside
of the subject treated. Keil removes the difficulty by taking “the sinful
kingdom" as embracing both Israel and Judah in one; and there are no
insuperable objections to this interpretation.
Schmoller relieves the situation by saying that “the house of Jacob"
is literally “the stock of Israel” and is here to be referred to the ten tribes,
i. e., to Israel, and “the sinful kingdom" thus refers without difficulty to
the kingdom of Israel alone.
Perhaps the best explanation is to think of the house of Jacob before
there was any division, and the prophet here then conceives of the Jewish
nation as one and says that this part of the house of Jacob, this part of the
nation, the ten tribes (Israel) shall not be utterly destroyed. A remnant
was to be spared for Jacob's sake to fulfill the covenant whereby “the seed
of Israel" is hereafter to be “a nation forever”. (Jer. 30.11; 31.36)
Ver. 9. “yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth", —The
Godly elect, the solid grains, are preserved while the chaff, the dust, falls
through to the ground. (Rom. 11.26.)
11 In that day will I raise up the
tabernacle of David that is fallen, and
close up the breaches thereof; and I
will raise up its ruins, and I will build
it as in the days of old; 12 that they
may possess the remnant of Edom, and
all the nations that ’are called by my
name, saith Jehovah that doeth this.
13 Behold, the days come, saith Jeho¬
vah. that the plowman shall overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes
him that soweth seed; and the mountans
*Or, were
shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills
shall melt. 14 And I will ’bring back
the captivity of my people Israel, and
they shall build the waste cities, and
inhabit them; and they shall plant vine¬
yards. and drink the wine thereof; they
shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit
of them. 15 And I will plant them
upon their land, and they shall no more
be plucked up out of their land which
I have given them, saith Jehovah thy
God.
7 Or, return to
258
AMOS
Vers. 11-15. The Blessings of the Future Kingdom.
Ver. 11. “In that day ",—i. e., in the dispensation of the Messiah.
“the tabernacle of David that is fallen ",—The fallen condition of
this kingdom, which occurred more especially in the time of the Baby¬
lonian captivity, is presupposed. (K. Gr.) The literal meaning of the
word used is "hut", showing its low condition during the days of Amos
and subsequently during the Babylonian captivity before the restoration,
as well also as before the restoration under the Messiah.
This tabernacle of David Jehovah promises to " raise up". This
promise was but partially and temporarily fulfilled under Zerubbabel, be¬
cause this restoration did not include Israel, the main subject of this
prophecy, while furthermore the kingdom of Zerubbabel was not an inde¬
pendent and settled one and of its subjects it could not be said, " they shall
no more be plucked up out of their land " (verse 15).
The prophecy in this verse 11 certainly does turn to Judah, yet, as
Schmoller says, "not so much as a separate kingdom, but only insofar as it
furnishes the divinely appointed basis and point of departure for the restor¬
ation of the entire people".
Ver. 1 2. “the remnant of Edom", —Edom, as the representative of
all heathen nations, is mentioned because of these nations they were the
most hostile to Israel, and by “the remnant " is expressed that part of Edom
which had not already been subjugated.
" called by my name ",—This expression, wherever used, is applied
only to the covenant people of God, in conformity with which the meaning
here must be that the recreated kingdom shall bear sway over Edom and
other heathen nations which shall in consequence become a part of the
covenant people. This seems therefore to be a prophecy of the calling of
the Gentiles, and as such is quoted by James in Acts 15.17. Concerning
this expression Fausset says, "who belong to me, whom I claim as mine
(Psa. 2.8) ; in the purposes of electing grace, God terms them already called
by his name". The possession then spoken of here is to be spiritually
realized. (F. Gr.) (Isa. 49.8; 54.8; Rom. 4.13.)
Amos shows that nothing was to be hoped for by the ten tribes apart
from connection with Judah.
Ver. 13. “Behold the days come ",—i. e., when Israel is "planted
upon their land" (verse 15) when the Jews shall have been restored to
their own land.
“the ploughman . and the treader”, —Such shall be the
abundance of the harvest and the vintage that they can hardly be gathered
before the time shall come for the preparing for the next crop.
Ver. 15. “they shall no more be plucked up out of their land “,—
(See Jer. 32.41.) This is most certainly a distinct expression of the final
abolition of an exile; never again shall the restored exiles be carried away
by enemies. The promise in verses 11 to 15 is to the nation as a whole.
Schmoller says, "An unprejudiced comparison shows that the
prophecy transcends the experience. This fact does not show that the
threatening is unfounded, but that it has an eschatological character. The
prophet, indeed, sees the last decisive judgment arise, but still the judgment
259
OBADIAH
which came historically upon the ten tribes was not this last decisive one.
The prophecy was further fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed by the
Romans, but it still awaits its complete fulfillment in the last judgment
at the Parousia upon the entire body of the apostate members of the people
of God of whom Israel was a type.” This same expositor further says
that because the judgment was fulfilled in literal Israel is no sign that the
promise must likewise be so fulfilled in Israel after the flesh. He with
many others think of this promise as being fulfilled now in the New Testa¬
ment Israel. James says in Acts 15.17 that verse 1 2 was fulfilled in Christ,
and if this be so, then in a very certain sense the fulfillment of the raising
up of the tabernacle of David ought also to be found in Christ.
If this, and other prophecies like it, are to be taken literally, then we
must look for a literal restoration of the Jews to the land of Palestine
sometime in the future, inasmuch as it did not occur in times now past.
(See “Doctrinal and Moral” in Lange’s Commentary under this chapter. )
THE BOOK OF
OBADIAH
(B. C. 586)
Vers. 1-16. The condemnation and coming destruction of Edom
together with the rest of the foes of Israel.
15 For the day of Jehovah is near
upon all the nations; as thou hast done,
it shall be done unto thee; thy 'dealing
shall return upon thine own head. 1 6
For as ye have drunk upon my holy
’Or, recompense
mountain, so shall all the nations drink
continually; yea. they shall drink, and
'swallow down, and shall be as though
they had not been.
■'Or, talk foolishly
Vers. 15,16. The Day of Jehovah and the Punishment of the
Ungodly.
Ver. 15. “the day of Jehovah ",—The day in which the Lord will
manifest Himself as the righteous punisher of the ungodly people. It is
the day introduced in verse 8.
“upon all the nations ".—“The range”, says Klieforth. “extends to a
universal judgment.” “It shows”, says Fausset, “that the fulfillment is
not exhausted in the punishment inflicted upon the surrounding nations
by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, but as in Joel 3.14 and in
Zech. 12.3, the last judgment to come on the nations confederate against
Jerusalem is referred to.”
Ver. 16. “ ye ",—Some explain, “ye Jews”, the prophet suddenly
shifting his address for a moment. (F. Sm. Ma.) Others explain, “ye
Edomites”. (C. Kle.) By the first explanation "drunk" refers to the
cup of affliction, being dispossessed of their goods and lands by Edom and
all the nations: so shall all the heathen nations drink the same cup. By
the second explanation "drunk" refers to the cup of exultation, i. e., taking
260
OBADIAH
part in the wild revelry of the destroyers and so shall they drink the cup
of wrath from God's hand. The latter seems preferable.
1 7 But in mount Zion there shall be
those that escape, and it shall be holy;
and the house of Jacob shall possess
their possessions. 18 And the house
of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of
Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau
for stubble, and they shall burn among
them, and devour them; and there shall
not be any remaining to the house of
Esau; for Jehovah hath spoken it, 19
And they of the South shall possess the
mount of Esau, and they of the low¬
land the Philistines; and they shall pos¬
sess the field of Ephraim, and the field of
Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess
Gilead. 20 And the captives of this
’host of the children of Israel, 'that are
among the Canaanites, shall possess even
unto Zarephath; and the captives of
Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall
possess the cities of the South. 21 And
saviours shall come up on mount Zion
to judge the mount of Esau; and the
kingdom shall be Jehovah's.
'Or, fortress
-Or, shall possess that which belonpeth lo
the Canaanites, even &c. Or, that are among:
the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and &*c.
Vers. 17-21. The Re-establishment of the Jews in Their Own
Possessions.
Ver. 17. " those that escape”, —Unlike Judah's heathen foes of
whom no remnant shall escape, a remnant of the Jews shall escape when
the rest of the nation has perished.
“it shall be holy”, —It shall be inviolable, no longer profaned by
strangers.
Ver. 18. The “house of Jacob” is the kingdom of Judah, and the
"house of Joseph” is the kingdom of Israel, and through the burning zeal
of God in them, the one shall become a “fire” and the other a “flame”, the
two forming one kingdom, their former feuds being laid aside.
"This was but an earnest", says Fausset, "of the future union of
Judah and Israel in the possession of the enlarged land as one kingdom.
(Ezek. 37.16.)"
Ver. 19. “And they of the South”, —The men of Judah, who in
the coming time are to occupy the south of Judea, shall also possess in
addition to their own territory the adjoining mountainous region of Edom.
“and they of the lowland”, —This refers also to Judah, who in the
coming time is to occupy the lowland in the west of Judea, but shall also
possess the land of the Philistines, the people being here put for the land.
“and they”, —The reference is still to the men of Judah.
Ephraim and Samaria formerly belonged to the Ten tribes.
“and Benjamin”, —The other tribe composing Judah shall possess
Gilead, east of the Jordan, and so the dominion returns to Judah (Gen.
49.10) and the whole land is brought back to the House of David by the
two tribes who had remained true to it. (Jer. 32.44.)
T he “they” of this verse is by some referred to the Ten tribes. This
makes an abrupt and an unnatural passage from the previous subject, but
it makes them possess the land that was originally theirs (Ephraim and
Samaria). These same authorities then refer “the children of Israel” of
verse 20 to the Ten tribes also, and this seems natural because Jerusalem
of verse 20 refers to Judah, the Two tribes, and thus the parallelism is the
261
OBADIAH
better carried. But all things considered, the explanation we have already
given is the preferable one.
Ver. 20. “captives”, —Those who were “carried away“.
“host of the children of Israel”, —The twelve tribes united under
Judah.
“among the Canaanites” ,—In Phoenicia and western Palestine.
“even unto Zarephath”, —Near Zidon. Mentioned in Luke 4.26.
“in Sepharad”, —A district of western Asia about Lydia and near
the Bosphorus. (F. Vul. Jer. Say. Che. Kle.)
There are four interpretations of the first clause of this verse:
1. “And the captives of this host of the children of Israel that arc
among the Canaanites even unto Zarephath, and the captives that
are in Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of
the South.“ (He. Ma. Um. Pu. Cas.)
2. “And the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall be
come the Canaanites which there are even unto Zarephath”, etc.
This is the view of Kleinert, but it will hardly do to arbitrarily
supply, as he does, the words “shall become” and “there are”.
3. “And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall
possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the cap¬
tivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of
the South.” (A. V. F. Sm. Hit. Sep.)
4. The rendering of the Revised Version as set forth in our text.
Both the third and fourth views supply “shall possess” before the
words, “even unto Zarephath” . This is quite allowable, but between the
two the rendering of the Revised Version is preferable. In fact, it is far
more natural than either of the other views, the word “among”, which it
supplies, corresponding with the word “in” in the latter part of the verse.
Inasmuch as the distribution of the land as set forth in these verses
has never taken place, it would seem as though it ought to take place in
the future . The general conception of the true Israel, the people of God
in a spiritual sense, inheriting the earth may be set forth as a spiritual ful¬
filling of the Old Testament prophecies in general, but how such minute
details as the very portions of land which the different tribes shall possess
can be spiritualized is difficult to see.
Ver. 2L “saviours” ,—This does not refer to kings, but the rather
to heroes like the Maccabees.
Edom is, of course, a type of Israel’s foes and of God’s last foes. Keil
calls attention to the fact that the destruction of Edom and the occupation
of Seir by Israel must, according to Numbers 24.18, proceed from the Ruler
that shall arise out of Jacob, the Messiah. According to Amos 9.11, how¬
ever, not until the setting up of the tabernacles of Judah that have fallen
down, and not until, according to Obadiah, on the day of Jehovah, at
and after the judgment of all the peoples, will it follow. The fulfillment
of verses 17 to 21 can therefore only belong to the Messianic period, so
that it began in a spiritual sense with the establishment of the kingdom
of Christ on earth and proceeds with its extension among the peoples of
262
MICAH
the earth, and will in this sense be fully accomplished with its final com¬
pletion at the second coming of the Lord. But in the literal sense it
would seem, as we have shown, to call for a fulfillment which is yet alto¬
gether in the future.
THE BOOK OF
MICAH
(B. C. 750—B. C. 710)
CHAPTER TWO
12 1 will surely assemble, O Jacob, all
of thee; 1 will surely gather the remnant
of Israel; I will put them together as
the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the
midst of their pasture; they shall make
great noise by reason of the multitude
of men.
13 The breaker is gone up before
them: they have broken forth and
passed on to the gate, and are gone out
thereat; and their king is passed on be¬
fore them, and Jehovah at the head of
them.
Vers. 12,13. The Promise To the Remnant.
Some authorities put verses 12 and 13 in the mouth of the false
prophets. (Ew. Kle. Hof. Hart.) But there is hardly sufficient ground
for this view, although the words do seem a bit abrupt when put in the
mouth of Micah. However, the reference to the " remnant” is hardly
appropriate to the false prophets, and so we prefer with the majority to
refer the words to Micah. (F. K. Pu. Ma. Hen. Hit. Cas.) For a similar
transition see Hos. 1.9,10.
Ver. 12. “all of thee”, —The restoration from Babylon was but
partial, and this is of course therefore Messianic and finds its spiritual ful¬
fillment in the people of God of this dispensation, and its literal fulfillment,
as Fausset says, in the still future restoration of Israel as mentioned in
Romans 11.26.
“remnant”, —The elect remnant which is to survive all previous
calamities.
“Bozrah”, —A region famed for its rich pastures.
“multitude of men”, —God can make a remnant into a multitude.
Ver. 13. “the breaker”, —The Messiah.
“they” ,—The returning Israelites.
“through the gate”, —i. e., the gate of the foe's city where they had
been held captive.
“their king ”,—The king out of the House of David, the Messiah, the
“Breaker”.
"Jehovah at the head of them ”,—As in the marches in the desert.
(Num. 10.35; Ex. 13.21.)
263
MICAH
CHAPTER FOUR
1 But in the Utter days it shall come
to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah’s
house shall be established ’on the top
of the mountains, and it shall be exalted
above the hills; and peoples shall flow
unto it. 2 And many nations shall go
and say. Come ye, and let us go up to
the mountain of Jehovah, and to the
house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths. For out of Zion shall go
forth ‘the law. and the word of Jehovah
from Jerusalem; 3 and he will judge
‘between 4 many peoples, and will decide
concerning strong nations afar off: and
they shall beat their swords into plow¬
shares, and their spears into pruning-
hooks; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more. 4 But they shall sit
every man under his vine and under his
fig-tree; and none shall make them
afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of
hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all the
peoples walk every one in the name of
his god; and we will walk in the name
of Jehovah our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith Jehovah, will I
assemble that which is lame, and I will
gather that which is driven away, and
that which l have afflicted; 7 and I will
make that which was lame a remnant.
'Or, at the head
■Or, instruction
•'Or, among
*Or, great
and that which was cast far off a strong
nation: and Jehovah will reign over
them in mount Zion from henceforth
even for ever. 8 And thou. O tower of
r, the flock. c the hill of the daughter of
Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the
former dominion shall come, the king
dom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud?
Is there no king in thee, is thy coun¬
sellor perished, that pangs have taken
hold of thee as of a woman in travail?
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion, like a woman in
travail; for now shalt thou go forth
out of the city, and shalt dwell in the
field, and shalt come even unto Baby¬
lon: there shalt thou be rescued; there
will Jehovah redeem thee from the
hand of thine enemies. 1 1 And now
many nations are assembled against thee,
that say, Let her be defiled, and let our
eye ’see our desire upon Zion. 1 2 But
they know not the thoughts of Jehovah,
neither understand they his counsel; for
he hath gathered them as the sheaves to
the threshing-floor. 1 3 Arise and thresh.
O daughter of Zion: for I will make thy
horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs
brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many
peoples: and I will devote their gain
unto Jehovah, and their substance unto
the Lord of the whole
•'Or. F-der. See Gen. 35.21.
i: Hel). Of he l
*Or, gaze upon
Vers. 1-n. The Future Kingdom and the Rec.athfring of Israel.
Ver. 1. The first three verses of this chapter are almost word for
word like Isa. 2.2-4. The majority seem to think that Isaiah quoted from
Micah.
“In the latter days’’ ,—The word ’latter” literally means the "hind
most", the "farthest", whether of space or time—the last of the days, and
is translated by Alexander and others, "in the end of the days". The
phrase according to Jewish interpreters always means the days of the
Messiah.
"the mountain of Jehovah’s house ",—Mount Zion in the widest
sense including Mount Moriah where the Temple stood.
“on the top of the mountains”, —It is better to retain the literal read¬
ing of the margin. “at the head of the mountains ". Alexander translates,
"high among". It means raised and fixed above the other mountains so
as to be visible in all directions.
"exalted”, —The reference is to a moral exultation and dignity and
not to physical elevation.
Kleinert insists that we have here a figurative reference to the Christian
264
MICAH
Church and that the ideal significance of both sentences is proven by the
parallel third member, the “Rowing” being a spiritual one (verse 3) and
compatible with the nations “afar off” staying at home.
Fausset, on the other hand, declares that the restoration from Baby¬
lon is but a type of the restoration of Israel hereafter and that Israel, and
not merely the Christian Church, is the ultimate subject of the prophecy,
one of the encouragements for this contention being the unsearchable wis¬
dom of God's thoughts as set forth in Isa. 5 5.8 as the ground for this
restoration, which matter he says is again in mind in verse 1 2 of this
chapter. The truth is, of course, to be found in both of these views taken
together.
Ver. 2. “mountain of Jehovah ”,—Mount Zion.
“the law ",—The word means literally, “instruction", and the refer¬
ence is not merely to the Jewish law as such but to a rule of life from God.
Ver. 3. “judge between ”,—This does not mean to “rebuke" (A-
V.), nor to “convince" (C. V. Coc.), but to “decide concerning". It
means to arbitrate, to decide their differences.
“beat their swords into plowshares ”,—The more particular reference
here is to the swords still drawn against God's kingdom. (Joel 4.10.)
Ver. 5. “all the peoples ”,—All the heathen peoples walk in the
name of their several gods, but as for the Jews in dispersion they will walk
in the name of Jehovah forever.
Their Babylonian captivity cured them of their idolatry, and so it
seems their present dispersion must cure them of their unbelief.
Ver. 6. “lame . . . driven away . . . afflicted ”,—The suffering chil¬
dren of Israel will then after hard blows and rejection, be graciously gath¬
ered together again.
Ver. 7. “remnant ”,—They were to be treated as the remnant to
whom the promise applies and were to be made into a strong nation.
“Jehovah ”,—The Messiah, of course, is meant although Micah speaks
of Him as Jehovah.
“from henceforth” ,—i. e., from the time of the fulfillment on.
Ver. 8. “fouler of the flock”, —That Jerusalem is meant is proven
by the next clause, “the hill of the daughter of Zion”, which hill was an
impregnable height on Mount Zion. The reference is probably to the
tower of David. In large pastures it was customary to erect wooden towers
so as to overlook the flocks, and therefore it is a shepherd relation between
Jehovah and His people that is here mentioned. (F. K. Hen.)
“the former dominion .... the kingdom ”,—The kingdom in its
former glory.
Ver. 9. “Is there no king in thee ?”—This is asked tauntingly,—
there is a king in Zion but he is powerless to help against the advancing
foe.
“counsellor ”,—This is an explanatory synonym for “king".
The first question of this verse is addressed to Zion as she sees the
Assyrian army approaching.
265
MICAH
Ver 10. "nous shalt thou go forth out of the city", —i. e., upon its
capture.
"dwell in the field", —Defenseless instead of being in a fortified city.
"unto Babylon", —Micah looks beyond the threatening Assyrian
power to the captivity under Babylon.
"there will Jehovah redeem thee", —Through Cyrus, the type of the
coming Messiah.
Ver. 11. "many nations" ,—Many see here a reference to the oppres¬
sion under Antiochus Epiphanes. This, however, seems to be opposed by
"now" and by the term "natrons'', which can hardly refer to the mercenary
collections of this king, but may very properly designate the subject peo¬
ples composing Babylon’s army, together perhaps with Edom, Amon, etc.,
who exulted in Judah's downfall.
Ver. 13. " Arise and thresh", —i. e., destroy the foes gathered by
Jehovah as sheaves.
CHAPTER FIVE
1 Now shalt thou gather thyself in
troops, O daughter of troops: he hath
laid siege against us; they shall smite
the judge of Israel with a rod upon
the cheek.
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah,
which art little to be among the ‘thou¬
sands of Judah, out of thee shall one
come forth unto me that is to be ruler
in Israel; whose goings forth are from of
old, 'from everlasting. 3 Therefore will
he give them up, until the time that she
who travaileth hath brought forth: then
the residue of his brethren shall return
a unto the children of Israel. 4 And he
shall stand, and shall feed his flock in
the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty
of the name of Jehovah his God: and
they shall abide; for now shall he be
great unto the ends of the earth. 5 And
this man shall be our peace. When the
Assyrian shall come into our land, and
when he shall tread in our palaces, then
shall we raise against him seven shep¬
herds, and eight principal men. 6 And
they shall waste the land of Assyria
with the sword, and the land of Nim¬
rod in the entrances thereof: and he
shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when
he cometh into our land, and when he
treadeth within our border. 7 And the
] Or, families. See Judg. 6.15
^r, from ancient days
®Or, with
KJr, -princes among men
remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst
of many peoples as dew from Jehovah,
as showers upon the grass, that tarry not
for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be
among the nations, in the midst of
many peoples, as a lion among the
beasts of the forest, as a young lion
among the flocks of sheep: who, if he
go through, treadeth down and teareth
in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Let thy hand be lifted up above
thine adversaries, and let all thine ene¬
mies be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that
day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off
thy horses out of the midst of thee, and
will destroy thy chariots: 11 and I will
cut off the cities of thy land, and will
throw down all thy strongholds. 12
And I will cut off witchcrafts out of
thy hand; and thou shalt have no more
soothsayers: 13 and I will cut off thy
graven images and thy “pillars out of the
midst of thee; and thou shalt no more
worship the work of thy hands; 14 and
I will pluck up thine Asherim out of
the midst of thee; and I will destroy
thy “cities. 15 And I will execute ven¬
geance in anger and wrath upon the
nations T which hearkenth not.
B Or, obelisks
e Or, enemies
T Or, such as they Have not heard
Vers. 1-15. The Birth OF THE KING, THE DISPERSION OF ISRAEL, AND
the Kingdom Age.
Lest they fall into carnal security he reminds them of the calamities
which are to precede the prosperity.
266
MICAH
Ver. 1. “daughter of troops’, —She is so-called because of her
numerous troops.
“he”, —i. e., the enemy, Assyria-Babylon.
“smite upon the cheek”, —The greatest of insults.
“the judge” —The one who stands at the head. If the king is meant
he was perhaps not so called because that dignity was reserved for the
Messiah just to be announced. Hengstenberg says the expression marks a
time when there was no king.
Ver. 2. “the thousands of Judah”, —Each tribe was divided into
“thousands", each thousand containing a thousand families.
Ver. 3. “them”, —i. e., Israel, given into the hands of her enemies.
“she who travaileth”, —“This", says Fausset, “cannot be restricted
wholly to the Virgin Mary (Hen.), for Israel is still given up, though
the Messiah has been brought forth eighteen and a half centuries ago.
But the Church’s throes are to be included, which are only to be ended when
Christ shall at last appear as the Deliverer of Jacob, and when the times
of the Gentiles shall have been fulfilled, and Israel, as a nation, shall be
born in a day." (Isa. 66.7-11; Lu. 21.24.) Kleinert thinks the people
of Judah are meant. (See Chap. 4.8.)
“then the residue of his brethren shall return”, —The remainder of
the Israelites dispersed in foreign lands both of Judah and the ten tribes.
(F. K. Kle. Hof. Cas.)
Scofield’s remarks are of interest at this point; he says, “Micah 5.1,2
forms a parenthesis in which the 'word of the Lord' goes back from the
time of the great battle of Armageddon (closing part of preceding chapter) ,
yet future, to the birth and rejection of the King, Messiah-Christ. This is
followed by the statement that He will ‘give them up until the time that
she which travaileth hath brought forth’. There is a twofold travail of
Israel: (1) that which brings forth the ‘man-child’ (Christ) (Rev. 12.
1-3) ; and (2) that which, in the last days brings forth a believing ‘rem¬
nant’ out of the still dispersed and unbelieving nation (ver. 3; Jer. 30.
6-14; Mic. 4.10). In verse 7 we have the 'man-child', the Christ of
Rev. 12.1-3; in verses 8-24 the remnant established in kingdom blessing.
The meaning of verse 3 is that from the rejection of Christ at His first
coming Jehovah will give Israel up till the believing remnant appears; then
He stands and feeds in His proper strength as Jehovah; He is the defense
of His people, and afterward the remnant go as missionaries to Israel and
to all the world."
Ver. 4. “he”, —The Messiah.
“they”, —Both the returning remnant and the Israelites previously
delivered.
“great unto the ends of the earth” ,—His kingdom becomes a univer¬
sal kingdom of great power.
Ver. 5. “this man”, —i. e., the one just mentioned.
“the Assyrian”, —Whatever Assyrian it may be, i. e., Assyria as the
representative of all the foes of Israel in all ages.
"seven shepherds and eight principal men”, —An idiom for a full and
sufficient number.
267
MICAH
Ver. 6. “land of Nimrod”, —i. e., Babylon.
“he”, —This in both instances in this verse means the Messiah.
Ver. 7. “as dew”, —i. e., quickening them by a blessed influence as
dew does the grass.
Ver. 8. “as a lion”, —i. e., striking terror by her power into all
opponents.
Ver. 9. “Let thy hand be lifted up”, —i.e., that through it and by
it God may smite.
Vers. 10,11. "horses .... strongholds”, —Israel will no longer
depend upon these because war will be no longer.
“I will cut off witchcrafts”, —i. e. r the witchcraft which thou now
useth.
Ver. 13. The reference here is to stone and molten images and
statues for idolatry.
Ver. 14. “Asherim”, —i. e. ( "groves",—the idolatrous symbol of
Astarte.
“thy cities”, —The cities where were the seats of false worship or near
which the “groves" existed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they
have gathered the summer fruits, as the
grape gleanings of the vintage: there is
no cluster to eat: 'my soul desireth the
first-ripe fig.
2 The godly man is perished out of
the earth, and there is none upright
among men: they all lie in wait for
blood: they hunt every man his brother
with a net.
3 'Their hands are upon that which
is evil to do it diligently: the prince
asketh, and the judge is ready for a re¬
ward ; and the great man, he uttereth
the evil desire of his soul: thus they
weave it together. 4 The best of them
is as a brier; 3 the most upright is worse
than a thorn hedge: the day of thy
watchmen, even thy visitation, is come;
now shall be their perplexity. 5 Trust
ye not in a neighbor: put ye not con¬
fidence in a ^friend; keep the doors of
thy mouth from her that lieth in thy
bosom. 6 For the son dishonoreth the
father, the daughter riseth up against
her mother, the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are
the men of his own house.
'Or, nor first-ripe fig which my soul desired.
-Or, Both hands are fut jorth for evil to do
it, crV.
3 Or, the straightest is as it were taken from
&c.
< Or, confdant
7 But as for me, “I will look unto
Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my
salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Re¬
joice not against me, O mine enemy:
when I fall, I shall arise: when I sit in
darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto
me. 9 I will bear the indignation of
Jehovah, because I have sinned against
him, until he plead my cause, and ex¬
ecute judgment for me: he will bring
me forth to the light, and I shall behold
his righteousness. 1 0 Then mine enemy
shall see it, and shame shall cover her
who said unto me, Where is Jehovah
thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire
upon her; now shall she be trodden
down as the mire of the streets. 1 1
'A day for building thy walls! in that
day shall the T decree be far removed. 1 2
In that day shall they come unto thee
from Assyria and the cities of 8 Egypt.
and from s Egypt even to the River, and
from sea to sea, and from mountain to
mountain. 13 Yet shall the land be
desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings.
14 Teed thy people with thy rod,
the flock of thy heritage, which dwell
°Or, in Jehovah will I keep watch
®Or, /« the day that thy walls are to be
built
7 Or, boundary
, *Heb. Mazor
v Or, Rule
268
MICAH
solitarily, in the forest in the midst of
Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and
Gilead, as in the days of old. 15 As
in the days of thy coming forth out of
the land of Egypt will I show unto
them marvellous things, 16 The na¬
tions shall see and be ashamed of all
their might: they shall lay their hand
upon their mouth; their ears shall be
deaf. 17 They shall lick the dust like
a serpent; like trawling things of the
earth they shall come trembling out of
their close places: they shall come with
fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall
be afraid because of thee.
I 8 Who is a God like unto thee, that
pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the
transgression of the remnant of his heri¬
tage? he retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in loving¬
kindness. 1 9 He will again have com¬
passion upon us; he will ’"tread our
iniquities under foot; and thou wilt
cast all their sins into the depths of the
sea. 20 "Thou wilt ‘"perform the truth
to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Ab¬
raham. which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old.
"’Or, ifl/'r/m* our inn/ni/ies
"Or, limn wilt show 11»y faithfulness Cr'e.
'-If cl». f’lTC
Vers. 1-20. The Voice of the Remnant in the Last Days.
Personified Israel is here speaking through the prophet. In other
words Micah speaks as the organ of the true Israel.
Ver. 4. "the day of thy watchman ",—i. c. ( the day foretold by
thy true prophets, the day of their visitation, the day of the Lord.
“their ",—i. e., those to whom reference has just been made.
“now", —i. e., in the day of their perplexi ty-
Ver. 7. “I will look unto Jehovah". —"She did so under Baby¬
lonian captivity", says Alford, "and she shall do so again hereafter when
he Spirit of grace shall be poured upon her." (Zech. 12.6.)
Ver. 8. “rejoice not against me", —Israel addresses her triumphant
oe. This foe is a type of her last and worst enemy. (Ps. 137.7,8.)
Ver. 9. “execute judgment for me", —i. e., against my enemies.
“bring me forth to the light", —i. e., out of the darkness of captivity.
“his righteousness", —His gracious faithfulness to His promises.
Ver. 1 1. The anticipation of the exile goes forward and from the
ertainty of the threatenings the prophet expects the restoration of Jerusa-
em.
a day for building thy walls ".—i. e., by Cyrus. Fausset says, "And
gain hereafter when the Jews shall be restored". (Amos 9.11; Zech.
2 . 6 .)
in that day shall the decree be far removed" ,—It is impossible to
liscover the exact meaning of this phrase. The word “ decree" may also
n?an law or boundary". Among the explanations are the following:
1. The tyrannical decree or rule of Babylon. (F. Hen.)
2. The decree of God for her captivity. (Henry.)
3. The law in its widest and most general sense and the reference is
to its abolition in New Testament times. (Kle.)
4. The boundary of the city shall be extended, i. e., so as to contain
the people flocking into it from all nations. (Ma.)
5. The boundary of the land shall be far extended, her territory
increased. (Cas.)
269
ZEPHANIAH
6. The boundary between Israel and the nations shall be removed,
and so shall Israel’s exclusiveness be removed. (K.)
Views 1 and 2 taken together furnish perhaps the best explanation.
Ver. 12. " unto thee”, —i. e., the restored Zion.
“they’’, —i. e., the heathen peoples.
" from Assyria”, —i. e., first of all from the nation that had been her
scourge.
“the River”, —i. e., Euphrates.
" from sea . . . from mountain”, —Perhaps from the Mediterranean
on the west to the Persian sea on the east, and from Mount Zion on the
south to Mount Lebanon on the north.
Ver. 13. They must not forget the visitation of calamity upon their
land which must intervene.
Ver. 14. Here personified Israel speaks again.
“dwell solitarily” ,—i. e., in the midst of captivity.
Ver. 15. Jehovah answers the prayer.
“them”, —i. e., Israel,
Ver. 1 6. Here Micah speaks.
“lay their hand upon their mouth”, —Their speech shall be taken
away by reason of astonishment.
“Their ears shall be deaf”, —They shall close their ears, "so as not
to be compelled to hear of Israel's successes", (F.), "before the thunder
of Jehovah's mighty deeds". (Hit. Kle.)
Ver. 17. " close places”, —i. e., hiding places.
“thee”, —Maurer refers this to Jehovah, but it is better with Faussct
and others to refer it to Israel.
Ver. 18. Personified Israel speaks again.
“remnant”, —The elect remnant of grace.
Ver. 19. The “us” and the "our" refer to Israel in the first person,
and the “their” refers to the same in the third person.
THE BOOK OF
ZEPHANIAH
(B. C. 630—B. C. 611)
CHAPTER ONE
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of
the Lord Jehovah: for the day of Jeho¬
vah is at hand: for Jehovah hath pre¬
pared a sacrifice, he hath consecrated his
guests.
14 The great day of Jehovah is near,
it is near and hastech greatly, even the
voice of the day of Jehovah: the mighty
man crieth there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day
270
ZEPHANIAH
of trouble and distress, a day of waste- thick darkness. 16 a day of the trum-
ness and desolation, a day of darkness pet and alarm, against the fortified cities,
and gloominess, a day of clouds and and against the high ’battlements.
’Or, cor Her towers
>ers. 7,14-16. Jehovah's Day of Wrath Coming upon Judah.
Ver. 7. "Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice ",—The reference is to a
laughter of the guilty Jews, the Chaldeans being the guests.
The day of Jehovah is called, in verse 8, "the day of Jehovah's sacri-
ce", and in verse 14 this day is described.
Ver. 14. "The great day of Jehovah is near ",—The day is always
)oked upon as near at hand. The reference is here of course to the judg-
lent upon Judah through the Chaldeans.
"even the voice of the day of Jehovah ",—As if Jehovah ushered in
lat day with a roar of vengeance. The word "voice" may as properly
z taken as an interjection, “Hark, the day of Jehovah".
"the mighty man crieth bitterly ",—Because he cannot save himself
om the power of the foe.
Ver. 15. Of this verse Keil says, "All the words supplied by the
nguage are crowded together to describe the terrors of the judgment",
'his Day of Jehovah is to be accompanied by terrible signs of destruction
n earth and by troublous agitation of the elements.
Ver. 16. "trumpet ",—The war-signal of the besieging army.
"the high battlements ",—The corner towers or embattlements behind
hich the wicked people vainly imagine themselves to be secure.
HAPTER TWO
1 Gather yourselves together, yea,
gather together, O nation that hath no
’shame; 2 before the decree bring forth,
*before the day pass as the chaff, before
the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon
you, before the day of Jehovah’s anger
come upon you. 3 Seek ye Jehovah, all
ye meek of the earth, that have kept
his ordinances: seek righteousness, seek
meekness: it may be ye will be hid in
the day of Jehovah’s anger.
6 And the sea-coast shall be pastures,
’Or, longing
' J Or, (the day passeth as the chaff)
ers. 1-3,6,7,11. Repentance
Promised.
with 'cottages for shepherds and folds
for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the rem¬
nant of the house of Judah; they shall
feed their flocks thereupon; in the houses
of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the
evening; for Jehovah, their God, will
visit them and 'bring back their captiv¬
ity.
11 Jehovah will be terrible unto
them; for he will famish all the gods
of the earth; and men shall worship
him. everyone from his place, even all
the “isles of the nations.
8 Or, caves
4 Or, return to
6 Or, coast-lands
Commanded and Restoration
Ver. 1. "hath no shame", —i. e., the insolent and audacious nation,
is literally, "doth not grow pale". The word may be translated "long-
g", and thus mean there is no longing on the part of the nation to return
God. The address is to Judah.
Ver. 3. "it may be you will be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger",
271
ZEPHANIAH
—This docs not express doubt as to the fact of their deliverance, but th<
difficulty of it.
Ver. 6. Philistia, instead of a land of thick population, shall becom
a pasture land.
“cottages ’, —The reference is doubtless to caves or dug-outs to pro
tect the shepherds from the sun.
Ver. 7. “for the remnant of the house of Judah", —Judah after he
judgment, upon her return from exile, is to inherit this pasture land fo
her flocks.
“Jehovah will visit them" ,—i. e., in mercy.
Ver. I I. “worship him everyone from his own place" ,—Some rea<
into the word “from" the sense of “going up to Jerusalem", and so mak
this the same idea as that in Micah 4.1 and Zech. 14.6, where the idea o
going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem for worship is set forth. (K. Kle. Hit.
But we see no reason for taking tr
it to worshipping God everywhere,
Ma. Wo.)
CHAPTER THREE
8 Therefore wait ye for me. saith
Jehovah, until the day that I rise up
to the prey; for my ’determination is to
gather the nations, that I may assemble
the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation, even all my fierce anger;
for all the earth shall be devoured with
the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the peoples
a pure language, that they may all call
upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him
with one Consent. 10 From beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia 4 my suppliants, even
the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring
mine offering. 11 In that day shalt
thou not be put to shame for all thy
doings, wherein thou hast transgressed
against me; for then I will take away
out of the midst of thee 5 thy proudly
exulting ones, and thou shalt no more
be haughty in my holy mountain. 1 2
But I will leave in the midst of thee an
afflicted and poor temple, and they shill
take refuge in the name of Jehovah. 1 3
The remnant of Israel shall not do in¬
iquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a
deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth; for they shall feed and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.
] Heb. judgment
-Heb. lip
3 Heb. shoulder
4 Or. shall they bring my suppliants, even the
daughter of my dispersed, for an offering unto
me
3 Or, them that exult in thy majesty
is other than it reads, and so we refe
each one in his own home land. (F
14 Sing. O daughter of Zion; shout.
O Israel: be glad and rejoice with all the
heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 13
Jehovah hath taken away thy judg¬
ments, he hath cast out thine enemy:
the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in
the midst of thee; thou shalt not *fear
evil any more. 1 6 In that day it shall
be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not;
t O Zion, let not thy hands be slack. 17
Jehovah thy God is in the midst of
thee, a mighty one who will save: he
will rejoice over thee with joy; he will
"rest in his love; he will joy over thee
with singing. 18 9 I will gather them
that sorrow for the solemn assembly,
who were of thee; fo whom the burden
upon 10 her was a reproach. 19 Behold,
at that time I will deal with all them
that afflict thee; and I will save that
which is lame, and gather that which
was driven away; and I will make them
a praise and a name, whose shame hath
been in all the earth. 20 At that time
will I bring you in. and at that time
will I gather you; for I will make you a
name and a praise among all the peo¬
ples of the earth, when I "bring back
your captivity before your eyes, saith
Jehovah.
p Another reading - is see
7 Or, and to Zion
s Heb. be silent
”Or, They have been sorrowful for the solemn
assembly which / took away from thee, for the
lifting up of reproach against her
“'According; to another reading, thee
"Or, return to
272
ZEPHANIAH
Vers. 8-20. JERUSALEM DENOUNCED BUT HER JOYFUL RE-ESTAB-
lishment Promised.
Ver. 8. This verse is addressed not to the ungodly (C. Ma.), but
to the pious Jews.
”rise up to the prey”, —i. e., like a savage beast rising from his lair
j greedy for his prey. (Matt. 24.28.)
"gather the nations”. —i. e., against Jerusalem, to pour out his indig-
! nation upon them there (F. Kle.), and not in the sense that those among
I them desirous of salvation shall fall a prey to Jehovah. (See Joel 3.2:
i Zech. 12.2 and 14.2.)
It is, says Kleinert, “the last act of the judgment, as it is a fixed
'element of the prophetic eschatology, the final gathering of the heathen
nations before Jerusalem in order to be destroyed in the decisive struggle".
; (Micah 4.1 2.)
Ver. 9. " For then”, —i. e., after the punishment and as a result of it.
”peoples”, —The peoples which have hitherto with unclean lips
.called upon their idols.
"a pure language”, —Literally "a pure lip".
Ver. 10. ”Ethiopia” ,—The southern extremity of the then known
world, and here made the representatives of all Israel which shall be restored.
" my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed”, —The reference
;is of course to Israel. This rendering, which makes the words nominative
and which is preferable, is supported by the context and also by Isa. 18.7.
(Lut. Hit. Mar. Kle. Vul.)
Others prefer the marginal reading. (K. F. D. Wo. Hen. Stra.)
This puts the words " suppliants " and " daughter” in the objective case,
and thus represents the heathen as converting the Israelites dispersed among
them and as bringing them to God as an offering; but this is no doubt intro¬
duced from the reference in Isa. 66.20.
Ver. 11. ”thou”, —i. e., Israel.
“shalt not be put to shame”, —Because their transgressions will have
been removed.
"proudly exulting ones”, —It is pride that brings shame, and there
had been those who boasted of their temple and their election as God’s
people, etc.
"no more be haughty” ,—The converted remnant shall be of humble
spirit.
Ver. 12. The blessed effect of sanctified affliction on the Jewish
remnant.
Ver. 14. The prophet in mental vision sees the joyful day of Zion
and bids her rejoice at it.
Ver. 13. “thy judgments”, —When sin is renounced (verse 13)
judgments are removed. The judgments are those threatened in verses
5 and 7.
273
HAGGAI
Ver. 17. 'Vest in his love”, —The Hebrew word for "rest” is "be
silent" and the reference is no doubt to the calm, quiet joy which He has in
the possession of the object of His love.
Ver. 18. " will gather”, —i. e., from the dispersion.
”them that sorrow for the solemn assembly”, —i. e., the solemn
assembly which they could not celebrate in captivity.
”were of thee”, —i. e., of Israel, of thy origin and thy descent.
”to whom”, —i. e., to Israel. The meaning of the text as rendered
is, "To whom (Israel) the burden (of Israel's captivity) upon her (Israel )
was a reproach". This rendering follows the Hebrew more closely than
does that of the Authorized Version, although either is allowable and
makes practically the same sense, the reference in either case being to Israel
in dispersion and longing for the solemn assembly.
Ver. 20. " bring you in”, —In the sense of Deut. 33.3,5.
“captivity”, —This word is plural in the Hebrew and is so used to
express perhaps all their captivities and the different places from which they
will be caused to return.
“before your eyes”, —Your own eyes shall see it, incredible as it
may seem.
THE BOOK OF
HAGGAI
(B. C. 320)
CHAPTER TWO
6 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will
shake the heavens, and the earth, and
the sea, and the dry land; 7 and I will
shake all nations; and ’the precious
things of all nations shall come; and I
1 Or, the things desired (Heb. desire ) of all
nations shall come
will fill this house with glory, saith
Jehovah of hosts. 8 The silver is mine,
and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of
hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house
shall be greater than the former, saith
Jehovah of hosts; and in this place
will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Vers. 6-9. The Glory of the Future Temple.
Ver. 6. The prophet calls upon the old men to witness to the
insignificance of the present temple in comparison with the magnificence
of the temple in the days of Solomon, and then he utters a prophecy con¬
cerning a temple which shall be built the glory of which shall be greater
even than that of Solomon's.
“Yet once, it is a little while”, —There are several translations of this
phrase, all of which amount to practically the same thing, namely, that it
would be only a little while until, etc.
1. "One period more, a brief one it is",—There will be one period
more, and a brief one, between the then present and the predicted
274
HAGGAI
great change of the world. (Hit. Hof. Del.) This is perhaps
overworking the passage a bit.
2. “It is yet a little while",—The Hebrew for “once" is by this
view considered an indefinite article or numeral adjective. (F. C.
Ew. Um. Ru. Hen. Moo. Gro. Lut. Tar.) This view is quite
acceptable, as the one or two grammatical objections which have
been urged against it are not at all weighty.
3. “Once more (i. e., yet once), it is a little while",—This is perhaps
the least objectionable grammatically and is therefore to be pre¬
ferred. (K. Kle. Coc. Mar. Koe. Pre. Sep.)
"and I will shake the heavens", etc., —The principal reference here is
perhaps a figurative one. God's judgments are often represented under
images drawn from the phenomena of nature. (Psa. 62; Psa. 18.7-13;
Isa. 13.13; 64.1-3.) The thought then of this expression is that of vio¬
lent political convulsions and judgments on His foes. Physical prodigies
are not necessarily to be excluded. (Matt. 24.7,29.)
Ver. 7. “I will shake all nations", —i. e., I will judge among the
nations (Psa. 110.6), shake them down until they shall lose hostility to
Him. Fausset calls attention to the fact that Paul condenses together the
two verses of Haggai, both 6 and 7 as well as 21 and 22, implying thereby
that it was one and the same* shaking of which the former verses of Haggai
denote the beginning and the latter the end; and Fausset says, “The shak¬
ing began introductory to the first advent; it will be finished at the second.
Concerning the former compare Matt. 3.17; 27.51; 28.2; Acts 2.2 and
4.31; concerning the latter compare Matt. 24.7; Rev. 16.20; 18.20 and
20 . 11 ."
Sir Isaac Newton says here, “There is scarcely a prophecy of the
Messiah in the Old Testament which does not to some extent at least refer
to His second coming "
“the precious things of all nations shall come", —The Authorized
Version reads, “The Desire of all nations shall come", and the usual idea is
that this refers to the Messiah.
This rendering has always been a favorite one. It is the rendering
of the Vulgate, of all the Reformers excepting Calvin, of the older orthodox
commentators, quite generally of the English expositors, and has more
recently been adopted by Fausset. So confidently has this opinion been
held that Ribera suspected the later Jews of having changed the verb to the
plural so that it could not refer to the Messiah, after they had found that
He had not, as they maintain, come to the temple and that it had been
destroyed by Titus in A. D. 70. Of course this is not to be taken
seriously. It is quite natural, as McCurdy says, that the Christian Church,
in whose hymns and prayers this interpretation is still daily heard, should
be loathe to give up a prediction which seemed to embody such a great
and inspiring truth. But such an interpretation cannot as we will now
see, stand the test of correct criticism.
The rendering of our text, “the precious things", or “the desirable
things \ is favored by the following considerations;
1. The Hebrew word means the quality of a thing rather than the
thing itself, i. e., desirableness, beauty, etc.
275
HAGGAI
2. The Messiah can hardly be said to be the desire of all nations. He
was “a root out of a dry ground", having "no beauty that we
should desire Him". (Isa. 53.2.)
3. If my "a// nations" the Gentiles only are meant, what encourage¬
ment would it have been to the Jews to build the temple, which
is the matter in mind, to tell them that One was coming who was
the desire of all the Gentiles, i. e., " all nations"/ 5
4. The person of the Messiah does not well connect with the expres¬
sion, " silver and gold " of verse 8, which is introduced as con¬
firmatory of this verse 7.
5. The verb " shall come" is plural and cannot therefore have a
singular subject. This is the strongest objection to the Author¬
ized rendering and it is impossible to evade the force of it.
Fausset prefers the old rendering, and answers the above objections
to it after the following manner:
1. To the first objection he says the abstract is often put for the con¬
crete. A "man of desires" is one desired or one who is desirable.
(Dan. 9.23; 10.3,1 1.)
2. To the second objection he replies that if the Messiah was not
desired, and it is not implied that the nations definitely desired
Him, yet He was the only one to satisfy the yearning desires which
all unconsciously felt for a Saviour, shown in their painful rites
and bloody sacrifices. Moreover, while the Jews as a nation
desired Him not (to which people Isa. 53.2 refers), the Gentiles,
who are plainly pointed out by f, all nations' , accepted Him; and
so to them He was peculiarly desirable.
4. As to the fourth objection, he thinks that verse 8 harmonizes
quite as well with the Authorized Version of verse 7; in the former
of which verses Jehovah says that the silver and gold are His and
consequently He could so adorn this temple if He chose, but He
says He will adorn it with a glory far more precious, i. e., with the
presence of His divine Son, in His veiled glory first, and at His
second coming with His revealed glory. Then shall the nations
bring offerings of those precious metals which ye now miss so
much. (Isa. 2.3; 60.3,6,7; Ezek. 43.2,4,5; 44.4.)
5. To the fifth objection he replies that when a plural noun depends
upon and fellows a singular one, the verb in Hebrew may agree
with the plural noun, being nearest to it. But this can be true
only when the predicate may naturally be referred to the governed
word as containing the controlling idea of the sentence. But this
is not the case here; it is not the nations who are to come, but
the desire, or as we prefer to translate, the desirable things, in
which latter case there is no difficulty in explaining the plural verb.
It is quite evident from the above discussion that the rendering of our
text is by far to be preferred, the more especially so since it is grammatically
unassailable. The " desirable things' therefore refer to the precious things,
i. e., gold, gifts, etc. Most of the later commentators have adopted this
view. (K. C. Gr. Ma. Co. Ew. No. Ne. Cl. It. Hen. Hof. Koe. Sep. Syr.
Ros. Moo. Kle. McC. Kim. Mor. Sco. Dru.)
276
HAGGAI
It will not, however, do to think, with Henderson, of the things
desired by the nations, realized in the blessings of the Messiah's reign.
This explanation is not only irrelevant to the discourse as a whole, but it
must be discarded as well because of the want of connection with the con¬
text. Some few authorities (Um. Ru. Hit, Fue.) take the word collec¬
tively and make the passage mean, "the most desirable among the Gentiles
shall come". This is allowable so far as the Hebrew is concerned, but
here also the connection with verse 8 fails us.
Cocceius resolves the difficulty presented to the rendering of the
Authorized Version by the plural verb by translating as follows: "I will
shake all nations, that they may come to the desire of all nations." This
is more admissible grammatically than Fausset’s explanation of the plural
verb, but the third consideration in favor of our text, as given above, is
decisive also against this rendering.
“and I will fill this house with glory ”,—
According to the Authorized Version this would mean the glory of
Christ, who Himself was to enter into this house. The outward adorn¬
ment of the temple is by this view lost sight of entirely. As Fausset says,
"The first temple was filled with the cloud of glory, the symbol of God;
this temple was to be filled with the glory of God veiled in the flesh (John
1.14) at Christ’s first coming when He entered into it, i. e., into Herod’s
temple, performed miracles there and taught in it. (Christ 'sat daily
teaching in the temple’) ; but that glory is to be revealed at His second
coming, as this prophecy in its ulterior reference foretells (Mai. 3.1)."
According, however, to our rendering the primary reference must be
to the outward and inward glory of the silver and gold adornments, in
keeping with the clause just preceding.
Ver. 8. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine ”,—
According to our text this merely means that there will be plenty of it
to outshine the glory of the first temple.
According to the Authorized rendering the thought of this and the
following verse would be, "Fear not; the Messiah is coming and I will
fill this latter house with His glory. The silver and the gold are mine
and I could make this house outshine the first with the glory of such things,
but I will see to it that the glory of this latter house shall be greater than
that of the first one because it will be filled with the glory of Christ."
Ver. 9. “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the
former” ,—The view of the old rendering has just been given, but in keep¬
ing with our text, if we regard the immediate context the interpretation
becomes self-evident. The display of gold and silver in the first temple
was mournfully remembered by the people in their poverty, but the out¬
ward adornments of those other days would be more than surpassed, as
Calvin says, "when the nations would come, bringing with them all their
riches, that they might offer themselves and all their possessions a sacrifice
to God."
What now as to the fulfillment of this remarkable prediction? Ac¬
cording to the older view, that of the Authorized Version, this question
has already been answered by the remarks of Fausset, whether we think
of the typical fulfillment of Herod’s time or of the ultimate reference of
the prophecy to the time of Christ’s second coming.
277
HAGGAI
Scofield adopts this view but refers the entire passage to the end-time
and says, with certain other commentators, following the interpretation of
Abarbanel and other Jewish expositors, that "this latter house " can only
refer to the temple yet to be built as predicted in Ezek. 43. The expres¬
sion, "I will shake all natrons", he says refers to the great tribulation
and is followed by the coming of Christ in glory. There is no great
force in McCurdy’s objection to this on the ground of the prophet s
announcement of a speedy fulfillment. The student must of course make
his decision here consistent with his interpretation of the remarkable pas¬
sage in Ezekiel just referred to.
According to the rendering of our text it is quite certain that there
has as yet been no literal fulfillment of this prediction. The gifts to be
brought are most certainly those which are to be prompted by the spirit
of reverence and piety and godly fear. This was not the case with the
adornments of the temple of Herod's time. Herod, it is true, was a for-
eigner, but his labors for the temple were prompted by worldly policy and
were utterly out of harmony with the spirit of this prediction. Even so
the adornments of this temple did not outshine those of Solomon’s. It
is doubtful therefore whether this temple has any right to consideration at
all in connection with this prophecy (C. Hen. McC.), for thus in either
case the prophecy will have been a failure. Of course there were some few
proselytes from heathenism to Judaism in the days of the temple of Herod,
and the offering of themselves with their gifts may be taken as but the
merest fraction of a literal fulfillment of the promise in these verses when,
according to representation elsewhere the nations of the world with their
possessions shall flow unto Jerusalem. We must therefore either, (I) look
for the literal fulfillment in times still future according to the premillen-
narian teaching of the kingdom which is to follow the second coming ot
Christ, or (2) seek a spiritual interpretation of the prophecy, because the
prediction is given as a revelation from God and its fulfillment is certain,
and the decision must rest of course with one's view of the entire teaching
of prophetic Scripture along these lines.
According to the spiritual interpretation the temple must be merged
into the Church of Christ or the kingdom of the present dispensation, and
the coming of the early converted Gentiles, offering themselves and their
gifts, was but a pledge of the higher and more glorious fulfillment which
is still to come as more and more the world is gathered into the fold of the
kingdom of Christ, the inward glory of the New Testament dispensation
faa exceeding the outward glory of the dispensation of the Old.
"in this place will I give peace ",—
Says McCurdy, following the school of spiritual interpretation, "It
is the presence of Jehovah that sheds glory upon the Church, His temple
and dwelling place, that imparts inward peace and joy and outward peace
and prosperity to its members in ever increasing measure."
Fausset, of the older school, says, ,f 'in this place will I give peace ,
viz., at Jerusalem, the metropolis of the kingdom of God, whose seat was
the temple; where Messiah made peace through the blood of the cross.
Thus the glory consists in this peace, inward peace and outward, between
man and God and between man and man."
278
HAGGAI
20 And the word of Jehovah came
the second time unto Haggai in the four
and twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of
Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens
and the earth: 22 and I will overthrow
the throne of kingdoms; and I will de¬
stroy the strength of the kingdoms of
the nations; and I will overthrow the
chariots, and those that ride in them;
and the horses and their riders shall
come down, every one by the sword of
his brother. 23 In that day, saith Jeho¬
vah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerub¬
babel. my servant, the son of Shealtiel,
saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a
signet; for I have chosen thee, saith
Jehovah of hosts.
Vers. 20-23. The Future Destruction of Gentile Power.
Ver. 21. “I will shake the heavens and the earth ",— (See verses
6,7.) Zerubbabel may have asked concerning these convulsions, the Jews
possibly believing they would lead to the overthrow of their own national
existence.
Ver. 22. 4, the throne of the kingdoms’, —i. e., their governments.
All other kingdoms, says Fausset, are to be overthrown to make way for
Christ's universal kingdom. (Dan. 2.44.)
“by the sword of his brother ",—The heathen nations are doubtless
to be stirred up against each other and thus the wars will be mutually
destructive.
Ver. 23. ,f In that day” ,—i. e., the period, however long, during
which the political convulsions and overthrow of the nations are com¬
menced and completed.
“I will make thee as a signet ",—i. e., a ring with a seal on it, thus
making Zerubbabel, as the representative of his people, the signet ring of
Jehovah. The signet being worn on the finger it was the object of con¬
stant regard, in all which points of view, says Fausset, "the theocratic
people, and their representative Zerubbabel the type, and Messiah his des¬
cended the Antitype, are regarded by God."
During the commotions God would take care of Zerubbabel. He
would be building the temple and convulsions would be taking place all
around him, but God promises to preserve him. Of course Zerubbabel fitly
represents all the rulers of the Jews during the period within the range of
the prophecy and the promise extends to all the faithful rulers who were to
follow him, and thus the prophecy becomes indirectly and typically Mes¬
sianic, the Messiah and His kingdom being prefigured in Zerubbabel and
his kingdom. (F. He. Kle. McC. Moo.) Thus Fausset says, "Messiah
is the antitypical Zerubbabel. He is the signet ring on God's finger and
with Him God makes the covenant in which the Israelites are included.
He is the Representative and King. In Him, in Whom God hath chosen
the people as His own, they are assured of safety."
Others say the prophecy is directly Messianic and that by Zerubbabel
the Messiah is meant. We are inclined to the indirect or typically Mes¬
sianic interpretation. There is, of course, no doubt that the prophecy of
verses 6 and 7 are directly Messianic. Those who spiritualize the prophecy
of verses 6 and 7 take the shakings mentioned in two entirely different
ways. Says McCurdy, "The shaking of the heaven and the earth illustrates
in both cases the violent commotions among the Gentiles through the divine
power, but the result in the former was to be their ultimate conversion,
in the other their destruction. The allusion in the former must be to all
279
ZECHARIAH
movements in the history of humanity either before or since the coming
of Christ which have disposed men to own Christ as their Lord and Sav¬
iour, those which changed the aspect of the civilized world and adjusted
the nations for the ready reception and rapid spread of the Gospel, the
conquests of Alexander and the wars of his successors, then the progress
of Roman supremacy, and all subsequent events in the world's history,
political, social or moral, which have subserved the growth and glory of
the Church of Christ. The view, therefore, of Keil and Hengstenberg is
beside the mark, who suppose that the shaking of the nations is intended
to set forth the punitive judgments of God upon the heathen, as leading
them to submit themselves to His rule. As a matter of fact it was not
to any great extent the judgments of God that led the heathen to accept
the Gospel.”
THE BOOK OF
ZECHARIAH
(B. C. 520—B. C. 487)
The Book of Zechariah is designed to console and encourage God's
people still in a condition of weakness and suffering.
CHAPTER ONE
7 Upon the four and twentieth day
of the eleventh month, which is the
month of Shebat. in the second year
of Darius, came the word of Jehovah
unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah,
the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
8 I saw in the night, and, behold, a
man riding upon a red horse, and he
stood among the myrtle-trees that were
in the bottom; and behind him there
were horses, red, sorrel and white.
9 Then said I, O Lord, what are
these? And the angel that talked with
me said unto me, I will show thee what
these are.
10 And the man that stood among
the myrtle-trees answered and said.
These are they whom Jehovah hath sent
to walk to and fro through the earth.
1 1 And they answered the angel of
Jehovah that stood among the myrtle-
trees, and said, We have walked to and
fro through the earth, and, behold, all
the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12 Then the angel of Jehovah an¬
swered and said. O Jehovah of hosts,
^r, shady place
how long wilt thou not have mercy on
Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah,
against which thou hast had indignation
these three score and ten years?
13 And Jehovah answered the angel
that talked with me with good words,
even comfortable words.
14 So the angel that talked with me
said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus
saith Jehovah of hosts; 1 am jealous for
Jerusalem and for Zion with a great
jealousy.
13 And I am very sore displeased
with the nations that are at ease; for
l was but a little displeased, and they
2 helped forward the affliction.
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I
am returned to Jerusalem with mercies;
my house shall be built in it, saith Jeho¬
vah ol hosts, and a line shall be stretch¬
ed forth over Jerusalem.
1 7 Cry yet again, saying. Thus saith
Jehovah of hosts: my cities shall yet
overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah
shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet
choose Jerusalem.
-Or, helped for evil
280
ZECHARIAH
Vers. 7-17. The Rider on the Red Horse. The First of Ten
Visions in One Night.
Ver. 8. “man”, —The angel of the Lord, i. e., Christ. (See verse
11 .)
“red horse”, —Representing blood-shed and implying vengeance on
the foes of Israel.
The horses next mentioned are red in color, dark red (Ges. Zur.),
brown (Hen.) bay (Ch. Koe. Moo.), the idea being that of flame colored
referring to burning and destroying. Next are mentioned “sorrel” horses
or “speckled” (K. Urn. Ma. Pe. A-V.), and then “white” horses, the last
being perhaps a symbol of victory, although the significance of the color
is not to be pressed.
“in the bottom”, —The word means deep places, or shady places, and
is a symbolical designation of the abyss-like power of the world in which
the Jewish Church stands like a feeble and lowly shrub.
Ver. 9. “my Lord ”,—Whether this is addressed to the man on
the red horse of verse 8 or to the angel of interpretation (the angel that
talked with me) of this verse is a difficult question to decide. Some think
the “man” of verse 8, “my Lord” and “the angel that talked with me” of
this verse, and the “man” of verse 10 and the “angel of the Lord” of
verse 11 are all one and the same, the prophet having addressed the man
on the red horse as “My Lord”, but having perceived, when the reply
came, that it was but an angel. (Sco.)
Others because of the expression “the angel of Jehovah” think the
man on the red horse to be Christ. The language of verse 9 seems to
imply a distinction between the party addressed and the one making the
reply, in case we consider the question put to the man on the red horse.
The context does not furnish sufficient ground for a positive decision one
way or the other; neither is it a matter of great importance which view is
taken, but on the whole we prefer that which takes the “angel of Jehovah”
as Christ.
Vers. 10,11. The man on the red horse answers, and then in verse
11 the attendant angels answer the angel of Jehovah.
“all the earth sitteth still and is at rest”, —The nations at large were
dwelling in calm and severe repose undisturbed by any foe, a vivid con¬
trast to their own prostrate and suffering condition. This gives occasion
for the following intercession.
Ver. 12. “seventy years”, —The angel of Jehovah intercedes for
the land against a world at ease. It is not implied here that the seventy
years were just drawing to a close, but it seemed as if the exile condition
would never end although they were back in their own land.
Ver. 16. “a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem”, —A meas¬
uring line for extending the city. The contents of this and the following
verse were all practically fulfilled under Ezra and Nehemiah. But this was
only a beginning. Says Chambers, “Zechariah looks down the whole vista
of the future and utters predictions which do not exhaust themselves in
any one period.”
281
ZECHARIAH
18 And I lifted up mine eyes, and he answered me, These are the horns
saw, and behold four horns. which have scattered Judah, Israel and
19 And I said unto the angel that Jerusalem,
talked with me. What are these? And
Vers. 18,19. The Vision of the Four Horns.
Ver. 18. “four horns 1 ,—A horn is the symbol of power and here
stands for a Gentile foe. The expression “four horns’ doubtless refers
to the four cardinal points of the compass. Which ever way Israel had
looked she had found threatening foes on every side. (C. F. Um. Ma. Ch.
Hit. The. Koe.)
Ver. 19. Jerusalem is mentioned here merely for emphasis, while
in verse 21 Judah alone is mentioned as including both the two and the
ten tribes.
By many the four horns are referred to the four great world-empires
of Daniel (K. Ba. Wor. Hen. Kim. Jer.) The only objection to this view
is not that two of the powers were still in the future, because God's Spirit
in the prophets regards the future as present, but that the Medo-Persian
power did not persecute Israel, and also each succeeding world-power
destroyed its successor while here the four powers are destroyed by four
other powers. These objections are not necessarily fatal to the view, nor
need this view be taken to show that the exhaustive fulfillment is yet
future.
20 And Jehovah showed me four
smiths.
21 Then said I. What come these
to do? And he spake, saying. These
are the horns which have scattered
Judah, so that no man did lift up his
head; but these are come to terrify them,
to cast down the horns of the nations,
which lifted up their horn against the
land of Judah to scatter it.
Vers. 20, 21. The Vision of the Four Carpenters,
Ver. 20.
and employed
“carpenters ”,—The various powers which God raised up
to overthrow Israel’s foes.
Ver. 21. “no man lifted up his head ”,—All were in a prostrate
condition.
CHAPTER TWO
1 And I lifted up mine eyes, and
saw, and, behold, a man with a measur¬
ing line in his hand. 2 Then said I,
Whither goest thou? And he said unto
me. To measure Jerusalem, to see what
is the breadth thereof, and what is the
length thereof. 3 And, behold, the
angel that talked with me went forth,
and another angel went out to meet
him, 4 and said unto him. Run, speak
to this young man, saying, Jerusalem
shall *be inhabited as villages without
walls, by reason of the multitude of men
and cattle therein. 5 For I, saith Jeho-
’Or, dwtll
vah, will be unto her a wall of lire
round about, and I will be the glory in
the midst of her.
6 Ho, ho, flee from the land of the
north, saith Jehovah; for I have spread
you abroad as the four winds of the
heavens, saith Jehovah. 7 Ho. Zion,
escape, thou that dwellest with the
daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus saith
Jehovah of hosts: 2 After glory hath he
sent me unto the nations which plun¬
dered you: for he that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of his eye. 9 For,
behold, I will shake my hand over them.
a Or, Ajter tk* glory, ks katk &*c.
282
ZECHARIAH
and they shall be a spoil to those that
served them; and ye shall know that
Jehovah of hosts hath sent me.
10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of
Zion; for, lo. I come, and I will dwell
in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
11 And many nations shall join them¬
selves to Jehovah in that day, and shall
be my people; and I will dwell in the
midst of thee, and thou shalt know
that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto
thee. 12 And Jehovah shall inherit
Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and shall yet choose Jerusalem. 1 3 Be
silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; for
he is waked up out of his holy habita¬
tion.
Vers. 1-13. The Vision of the Man with the Measuring Line.
This chapter is a prophecy of the enlargement and security of the
Covenant people.
Ver. 1. “man", —There is no data for positive opinion as to these
characters, but there is no reason why this man should not be thought of
as the same with the one in Chapter 1, i. e., Christ, here the author of
Jerusalem’s coming restoration.
“a measuring line", —"The measuring line", says Scofield, "is used
by Ezekiel (Ezk. 40.3,5) as a symbol of preparation for rebuilding the
city and temple in the kingdom-age. Here also it has that meaning, as
the context (verses 4-14) shows. The subject of the vision is the restor¬
ation of the nation and the city. In no sense has this prophecy been
fulfilled."
Ver. 2. “to measure Jerusalem", i. e., its present dimensions with
a view to its future indefinite enlargement.
Ver. 3. “went forth", —i. e., from me, Zechariah.
“another angel", —i. e., one sent by the Measuring Angel.
Ver. 4. “young man" ,—Zechariah, so-called because of his age.
“without walls", —So many shall be its inhabitants that all cannot
be contained within the walls.
Ver. 6. Addressed to the Jews still remaining in the “land of the
north", i. e., Babylon, a type of the various Gentile lands where the Jews
had been scattered.
“as the four winds", —To be thus scattered is a symbol of violence.
The verse assigns a reason why the return was a possible one, i. e., I who
scattered you can gather you.
Ver. 7. “Zion", —Zion is here put for the inhabitants of Zion.
“daughter of Babylon ",—i. e., the people of Babylon personified.
Ver. 8. “after glory hath he sent me", —The meaning is, after restor¬
ing the glory of God’s presence in Jerusalem, he (God) hath sent me
(Christ) to execute judgment on the nations.
“apple", —This refers to the pupil of the eye, the most precious and
most easily injured which has therefore a double claim to protection.
Vers. 10-13. These are of course purely Messianic and are by some
referred to the people of God in this dispensation, while Scofield and others
of his school refer them to the “full blessing of the earth in the kingdom -
283
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 11. ‘‘many nations', —This was true to some extent upon
their return from exile, but in Messianic times, whether now or in the
future, the kingdom of God will not be confined to the Jews but will be
enlarged by the reception of many heathen peoples.
Ver. 12. (See Deuteronomy 32.9.)
Ver. 13. " his holy habitation", —i. e., heaven.
CHAPTER THREE
Divine forgiveness the sure foundation for the promises made.
1 And he showed me Joshua the
high priest standing before the angel of
Jehovah, and ] Satan standing at his
right hand to be his adversary. 2 And
Jehovah said unto Satan, Jehovah re¬
buke thee, O Satan; yea, Jehovah that
hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is
not this a brand plucked out of the
fire? 3 Now Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments, and was standing before
the angel. 4 And he answered and spake
unto those that stood before him, say¬
ing, Take the filthy garments from off
him. And unto him he said, Behold.
'That is, the A dversary
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from
thee, and I will clothe thee with rich
apparel. 5 And I said. Let them set a
clean mitre upon his head. So they
set a clean ‘mitre upon his head, and
clothed him with garments; and the
angel of Jehovah was standing by.
6 And the angel of Jehovah protested
unto Joshua, saying, 7 Thus saith Je¬
hovah of hosts: If thou wilt walk in
my ways, and if thou wilt keep my
charge, then thou also shale judge my
house, and shalt also keep my courts,
and I will give thee 3 a place of access
among these that stand by.
■’Or, iurban
3 Or, -places to walk
Vers. 1-7. The Vision of Joshua the High Priest.
Ver. 1. "he", —i. e., the interpreting angel.
"Joshua, the high priest", —He represents here the Jewish people.
"standing before the angel of Jehovah", —i. e., in his official function
as a high priest performing his duties.
"Satan", —This refers to the chief of evil spirits, Satan himself, and
not to a human adversary such as Sanballat (Ew. Kim.).
"at his right hand", —The usual place of the accuser.
Ver. 2. "Jehovah", —This is generally acknowledged to mean the
angel of Jehovah, it being not unusual in prophecy to have these terms used
interchangeably.
"a brand plucked out of the fire", —The reference is to the Babylonish
exile from which Joshua, in the sense that he represents the people, had
been pulled out as a brand.
Ver. 3. "clothed with filthy garments", —These represent the sins
of the people.
Ver. 4. "those that stood before him", —i. e., the Lord’s minister
ing angels.
Ver. 5. "I", —i. e., Zechariah. He wants the assurance that the
priesthood with its official purity would be fully restored.
284
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 6. " protested”, —i. e., solemnly declared,—a forensic term.
Ver. 7. " keep my charge”, —i. e., keep the ordinances, ritual and
moral.
" keep my courts”, —i. e., preside over the temple ceremony as high
priest.
" a place of access ",—This relates to a promise of some kind of asso¬
ciation or influence with Jehovah’s ministering angels. It really means
"places to walk" and pertains doubtless to ingress and egress, free access
to God among his ministering servants in the discharge of his priestly
functions. (C. Ch. Ma. Ew. Hit. Fur. Koe.)
Some translate “walkers”, —i. e., angels, who as messengers, go be¬
tween the high priest and god (Pe. Ba. Gro.), while others translate
"guides", i. e., from among the angels. But these last two require some¬
what of an alteration of the text.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high
priest, thou and thy fellows that sit
before thee; for they are men that are
a 'sign: for, behold, I will bring forth
my servant the ’Branch. 9 For, behold,
the stone that I have set before Joshua:
'Or, wonder
'Or, Shoot Or, Sprout
Vers. 8-10. The Vision of Jehovah's Servant, the Branch.
Ver. 8. " thy fellows that sit before thee”, —His associates in the
priestly office; not that they were then actually sitting before him, but that
:his was their usual posture when in consultation about the duties of the
priesthood.
“men that are a sign”, —The literal rendering is "men of wonder",
rhey are a sign of what is to come. They are typical and as such are
pledges to the desponding Jews that the priesthood should be preserved
jntil the great antitype should come. The address seems suddenly to have
peen shifted to the ministering ones and the talk is of Joshua and his col¬
eagues in the third person.
“my servant, the Branch”, —The Messiah. This seems to show His
priginal obscurity and the gradual development of his character.
Ver. 9. “the stone that l have set before Joshua”, —There are two
news as to the meaning of this stone:
1. The foundation stone of the temple which had been set up (laid)
before Joshua by the hand of Zerubbabel by God as the chief
builder, and therefore your labor in building shall not be in vain.
(F. He. Hit. Ros. Neu.)
Antitypically then the stone is Christ, the chief corner stone of the
foundation of the Church, "and", says Fausset, "the stone that
shall crush all the world kingdoms".
The "eye" is a symbol of Providence and seven is the symbol of
perfection; so the watchful eyes of God are fixed upon it. And
upon Christ are the eyes of the angels (I Tim. 3.16) and of the
saints (John 3.14,15; 12.32) and of the patriarchs and the
upon one stone are seven eyes: behold.
I will engrave the graving thereof, saith
Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the
iniquity of that land in one day. 10
In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts,
shall ye invite every man his neighbor
under the vine and under the fig-tree.
285
ZECHARIAH
prophets (John 3.56; I Peter 1.10) and, above all, the eyes of
the Father.
2. The Jewish Church, with the same interpretation of the seven
eyes as that just given. (Ch. Moo.)
There is little data for definite decision but we unhesitatingly
prefer the first view.
The "seven eyes'’ may also be conceived as the seven-fold radiation
of the Spirit of God preserving and fitting for the glorious purpose
involved.
Both of these views of the "seven eyes' consider them not as engraved
on the stone but as directed toward it. Calvin perhaps better considers the
eyes to be carved on the stone, which would then refer to Christ’s own
sevenfold or perfect fullness of grace and of the gifts of the Spirit, and His
watchful care for the Jews in building the temple, and always for the
Church, His spiritual temple.
"I will engrave the graving", —i. e., make it a beautiful and precious
stone.
"I will remove the iniquity ",—Not alone the iniquity but its con
sequences as well.
"that land", —i. e., this land, the land of Israel, the inhabitants ot
which of course stand for the whole Church.
"in one day ",—Primarily the reference is to the "great day of atone¬
ment" (tenth day of the seventh month) ; typically the reference is to the
atonement of the Messiah on the cross "once for all".
Ver. 10. "under the vine and under the fig-tree ",—This is to be
taken perhaps both spiritually and literally. "It is", says Fausset, "a
type of peace with God through Christ and of Millennial blessedness.”
Scofield says that verse 10 marks the time of fulfillment as in the future
kingdom. He says, "It speaks of a security which Israel has never known
since the captivity, nor will know until the kingdom comes."
CHAPTER FOUR
1 And the angel that talked with
me came again, and waked me, as a
man that is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And he said unto me, What seest
thou? And I said, I have seen, and,
behold, a candlestick all of gold, with
its bowl upon the top of it, and its
seven lamps thereon; 1 2 3 4 5 there are seven
pipes to each of the lamps, which are
upon the cop thereof; 3 and two olive-
trees by it, one upon the right side of
the bowl, and the other upon the left
side thereof.
4 And I answered and spake to the
angel that talked with me, saying, What
are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel that talked with me
answered and said unto me, Knowest
’Some MSS have, and seven fifes to the
lamfs, £ rY.
thou not what these are? And I said,
No. my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto
me, saying. This is the word of Jehovah
unto Zerubbabel, saying. Not by 'might,
nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
Jehovah of hosts.
7 Who art thou. O great mountain?
before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a
plain; and he shall bring forth the top
stone with shoutings of Grace, Grace,
unto it.
8 Moreover the word of Jehovah
came unto me, saying,
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid
the foundations of this house; his hands
shall also finish it; and thou shalt know
that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto
you.
■’Or, an army
286
ZECHARIAH
10 For who hath despised the day of
small things? for these seven shall re¬
joice, and shall see the plummet in the
hand of Zerubbabel; these are the eyes
of Jehovah, which run to and fro
through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto
him, What are these two olive-trees
upon the right side of the candlestick
and upon the left side thereof?
12 And 1 answered the second time,
and said unto him, What are these two
olive-branches, 'which are beside the
two golden spouts, that empty *the
golden oil out of themselves?
13 And he answered me and said,
Knowest thou not what these are? And
I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he. These are the two
anointed ones, that stand by the Lord
of the whole earth.
•Or, which by means of the two golden s fonts
emfty
•Heb. the gold
Vers. 1-14. The Vision of the Golden Candlestick and the Two
Olive Trees.
" This is, as we know from Rev. 11.3-12", says Scofield, " a prophecy
to be fulfilled in the last days of the present age."
Ver. 1. " out of his sleep", —This was perhaps an ecstatic slumber
of astonishment at the former vision.
Ver. 2. "seven pipes to each of the lamps", —The literal is "seven
sevens" (forty-nine in all), and our text is doubtless right in taking the
expression distributively. For an exact parallel see II Sam. 21.20 and
compare I Chron. 20.6.
"bowl", —This is the oil vessel.
"its seven lamps", —The candlestick symbolizes the Jewish theocracy
and ultimately the Church. The seven lamps indicate the fullness of the
light that was shed, and the forty-nine pipes the number and variety of the
channels by which grace is imparted to the luminary.
The seven lamps are united in one stem: so in Ex. 25.32, but in Rev.
1.12 the seven candlesticks are separate. Says Fausset, "The Gentile
Churches will not realize their unity until the Jewish Church as the stem
unites all the lamps in one candlestick (Rom. 11.16-24)
Ver. 3. "two olive trees by it", — (See verses 12-14.)
Ver. 6. "Not by might", etc., —As the candlestick gave light be¬
cause it was supplied with oil, so the work on the temple and the establish¬
ing of his people could only be accomplished by the same agency, oil being
a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Ver. 7. "O great mountain", —Some take this as a reference to the
Persian kingdom (K. Hen. Hit. Kim. Jer. Cha.), but it is better to take
it with others as a figure of any and all mountain-like difficulties. (F. Kl.
Ch. Neu.)
"he", —Zerubbabel, as the next verse plainly shows.
"grace, grace unto it", —May God grant His grace to the stone, the
grace that completed it preserve it forever.
Ver. 8. "me", —i. e., the divine angel, as also in verse 9.
Ver. 10. "who hath despised the day of small things", —An ad¬
monition to the people and their rulers not to despise small beginnings such
287
ZECHARIAH
as they had experienced. Who hath, i. e., with any reason? A negative
answer is implied. (K. Ch. Wor.)
“these seven’’ , —i. e., the seven eyes of the Lord.
“shall see the plummet”, — An indication that the work is going for¬
ward to completion.
Ver. 12. Without waiting for an answer he renews his question
with slight alteration.
“branches ’, — i. e., the channels through which the oil flowed into
the bowl of the lamps.
" spouts ”, —We are inclined to think that the marginal reading which
is that of the Authorized Version, gives the same sense with a somewhat
dearer way of expression.
Ver. 14. “the tw o anointed ones”, —Literally “the two sons of
oil”, i. e., Joshua and Zerubbabel (F. He. Pre.). Not the believing mem¬
bers of the Jews and the Gentiles (Kl.), for this would confound the
olive trees with the candlestick; nor Haggai and Zechariah (Ba. Hof.).
Joshua and Zerubbabel typify the royal and priestly office of Christ
Fausset says that the “great mountain” of verse 7. representing mountain
like obstacles, antitypically refers to the antichristian last foe of Israel, the
obstacle preventing her establishment in Palestine, about to be crushed
before Messiah. (Jer. 51.25; Dan. 2.34,44; Matt. 21.44.) He says also
the bringing forth of the “top stone“ antitypically refers to the time when
the full number of the spiritual Church shall be completed, and also when
“all Israel shall be saved". (Rom. 11.26; Heb. 11.40; 12.22,23; Rev.
7 . 4 - 9 .)
Scofield says, “The whole scene forms a precursive fulfillment of the
ministry of the two witnesses of Rev. 1 1, and of the coming of the true
'headstone', Prince Messiah, of whom Prince Zerubbabel is a type.
Joshua and Zerubbabel were the two olive trees for that day, as the two
witnesses of Rev. 1 1 may, in turn, but point to Christ as Priest-King in
the kingdom-age."
CHAPTER FIVE
Vers. 1-4. The Vision of the Flying Roll.
The curse of God upon the thief and the profane man.
Vers. 5-11. The Vision of the Woman in the Ephah.
We have here as some think a prophecy of the present dispersion of
the Jewish people. Scofield thinks that prophetically the application to
the Babylon (land of Shinar, verse 1 1) of Revelation is obvious, the Gen¬
tile Church in which time full of iniquity falls under the severe judgment
of God. (Rev. 18.)
CHAPTER SIX
1 And again I lifted up mine eyes, tains: and 'the mountains were moun-
and saw, and, behold, there came four tains of brass,
chariots out from between two moun- 2 In the first chariot were red horses;
’Or, the two
288
ZECHARIAH
and in the second chariot black horses;
3 and in the third chariot white horses;
and in the fourth chariot grizzled strong
horses.
4 Then I answered and said unto the
angel that talked with me. What are
these, my lord?
5 And the angel answered and said
unto me. These are the four 'winds of
heaven, which go forth from "standing
before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The
chariot wherein are the black horses
^Or, spirits
3 Or, presenting themselves
Vers. 1-8. The Vision of the Four Chariots.
Ver. 1. "chariots’, —i. e., chariots to execute God’s judgments on
the wicked Gentile nations.
"brass", —A symbol of impregnable strength and permanency.
"two mountains", —A valley guarded by two brazen mountains is
a fit symbol of the resistless might of Him who sends forth the executioners
of His will. There has been considerable speculation as to which moun¬
tains are intended, Mt. Zion and Mt. Moriah (Ma. Um.), Mt. Zion and
Mt. Olives (K. Moo.), the two horns of Medo-Persia (He.). But there
is no need for seeking such explanations.
"four", —i. e., indicating like the four points of the compass, uni¬
versality, a judgment going in every direction.
Can there be an allusion in the number "four" to the four world-
kingdoms of Daniel? It is thought by some that this is true insofar at
least as their existence lay in the future. God's judgment on Babylon had
already been executed unless the reference be to the punishment by Darius
on Babylon two years later for her rebellion against the Medo-Persian
conqueror.
Vers. 2,3. "Red" denotes war and bloodshed; "black" denotes
sorrow and death; "white" denotes victory, and the "grizzled" (piebald,
speckled, dapple) denotes a mixed dispensation or judgment of perhaps
“famine and pestilence” (K. Ch.), or of “adversity and prosperity” (F.
Wo. He.), or a combination of all (Moo.).
"strong", —This is the usual sense of the word and is so taken by
the majority but it is strange to find an epithet of quality immediately con¬
nected with one of color. Some therefore derive the word from an Arabic
root meaning “to shine”, hence, shining red. (C. Ch. Ew. Or. Coc. Koe.
Kim. Fur. Cha. Sep. Syr. Aq. A-V.) One cannot be sure, but it is best
perhaps to adhere to the usual sense of the world and translate “strong”
as in our text.
Ver. 3. "winds", —Some translate “spirits” (F. A-V. He. Neu.),
but it is nowhere else in the Bible so translated (certainly not in Ps. 1 04.4),
and it is better to adhere to the word “winds”. God makes the winds His
angels. His ministers of judgment.
Ver. 6. "north country", —i. e., Babylon, the territory washed by
the Tigris and the Euphrates.
goeth forth toward the north country;
and the white went forth after them;
and the grizzled went forth toward
the south country. 7 And the ‘strong
went forth, and sought to go that they
might walk to and fro through the
earth: and he said. Get you hence, walk
to and fro through the earth. So they
walked to and fro through the earth.
8 Then cried he to me. and spake unto
me saying. Behold, they that go toward
the north country have quieted my spirit
in the north country.
*Some MSS have, red
289
ZECHARIAH
"the white went forth after them*, —The white horses, following
perhaps to victoriously subdue Medo-Persia who had before the days of
this vision been used of God to subdue Babylon. In this case of course
the white horses would represent the Grecian (Alexander’s) kingdom, i. e.,
in case we adopt the four world-power explanation.
"the south country", —i. e., Egypt “being a part of Alexander’s
kingdom and standing for the whole of it”, says Fausset, and in this case
the grizzled horses would represent Rome.
Ver. 7. "strong", —He seems until now to have omitted the destina¬
tion of the first chariot with the red horses. All are agreed that verse 7
refers to what the red horses of the first chariot were to do, and it will not
therefore be worth while to busy ourselves with the practically insoluable
difficulty as to why the word "strong" is used here. These first horses
seem not content with going forth to a single territory but asked permis¬
sion to go through the whole earth and it was given.
If the reference to the world kingdoms be retained the work of these
horses is to be completed hereafter when the final form of the Roman empire
has been assumed and Israel's last great foe, the antichristian confederacy,
is overthrown . (Kl. Hof. Wor. F.)
But the contemporaneousness of their going forth, their destinations,
the fact that Babylon had been overthrown before the vision and that
Egypt was only one of the divisions of the Grecian empire somewhat
invalidate the four world-empire explanation. (K. Sco. Coc. Koe.)
Scofield says, “That which is symbolized by the four chariots with
their horses is not the four world-empires of Daniel, but the ‘four spirits
of heaven which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth ',
as is plainly shown in verse 5. These spirits are angels (Lu. 1.19; Heb.
1.14), and are most naturally interpreted of the four angels of Rev. 7.1-3:
9.14,15. These have also a ministry earthward and of judgment, even
as these spirits of Zechariah. The vision, then, speaks of the Lord’s judg¬
ments upon the Gentile nations north and south in the day of the Lord.
(Isa. 2.10-22; Rev. 19.11-21.)”
Ver. 8. “ quieted my spirit", —i. e., have caused my spirit to rest,
have appeased my anger. (F. Wo. A-V.)
Babylon alone in the days of the prophet was punished. God’s
wrath had been satisfied in that direction.
9 And the word of Jehovah came
unto me. saying, 10 Take of them of
the captivity, even of Heldai. of Tobi-
jah, and of Jedaiah; and come thou the
same day, and go into the house of
Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither
they are come from Babylon; 11 yea.
take of them silver and gold, and make
‘crowns, and set them upon the head of
Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high
priest; 12 and speak unto him, saying,
’Or, a crown, and. set it
Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying,
Behold, the man ''whose name is the
3 Branch: and he shall ^grow up out of
his place; and he shall build the temple
of Jehovah; 13 even he shall build the
temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear
the glory, and shall sit and rule upon
his throne; and 6 he shall be a priest upon
his throne; and the counsel of peace
shall be between them both. 14 And
the °crowns shall be to Helem. and to
*Or, whose name is the Bud; and it (or, they)
shall bud forth under him
s Or, Shoot Or, Sprout
4 0r, shoot
a Or, there shall be
“Or, crown
290
ZECHARIAH
Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and 7 to Hen
the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in
the temple of Jehovah. 15 And they
that are far off shall come and build in
the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall
T Or, for the kindness of the son
know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent
me unto you. And this shall come to
pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice
of Jehovah your God.
Vers. 9-15. The Crown upon Joshua’s Head.
This communication although given at the same time as the visions
and closely connected with them, does not itself take the form of a vision.
Zechariah is told to go to the house of Joshua where three men had carried
silver and gold sent as gifts, through them, by the exiles in Babylon to
help in building the temple in Jerusalem. He was to go on that very day
and take the silver and the gold and make crowns, etc.
Ver. 1 1. "crou;ns'\—The word is plural and is to be taken in the
sense of circlets of which the crown was woven, or better perhaps, in keep-
ng with the connection which treats of two distinct offices in one person,
wriest and king.
Ver. 12. "Behold the man", —This may be referred to Joshua as
;ypical of the Messiah (K.), but is better referred directly to the Messiah as
f He were present.
"Branch", — (See Chap. 3.8 and Isa. 4.2.)
"shall grow up out of his place ",—
1. Grow up from His own land and nation as a genuine root-shoot
from the stock to which the promise had been made. (K. Ba. Ch.
Coc. Hen.)
2. Under Him “it”, the Church, shall grow forth. (Ma. Margin.)
3. Grow up of Himself, without man's aid, of His own power, in
His miraculous conception. (He.)
4. Grow up out of His place of obscurity. (Moo.)
The first explanation is by far the more preferable.
"temple ",—The spiritual temple of which Solomon's and the one
hey were then building were only types. (F. Wo. Ch. Hen. Tho. Coc.
Coe.)
Fausset says, "It raises their thought beyond the material temple they
vere then building to the spiritual temple and also to the future glorious
emple to be reared in Israel under Messiah's superintendency." (Ezk.,
Ihaps. 40,43,42,43.)
Ver. 13. "a priest upon his throne", —He is to be both king and
ligh-priest on one and the same throne.
"peace between them both", —Not between the Branch and Jehovah
Vit. Coc.), nor between the Branch and an ideal priest (Ew. Bu.), nor
ietwcen the royal and priestly offices (Hen. Ros.), but between the king
nd the priest who sit on the throne united in one person, the Branch.
F. Ch. Um. Koe.) This is typified by Joshua and Zerubbabel working
larmoniously together.
"counsel of peace “.—The glorious scheme of reconciliation between
jod and man effected by the joint exercise of the regal and sacerdotal offices
f the Lord Jesus Christ.
291
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 14. The crowns are not to be Joshua’s personal property but
are to be preserved in the temple as a memorial of the three men who
brought them and to Joshua for his gracious hospitality. They were
to be left there also to extend the typical significance of the whole proceed¬
ing. These men sending from afar their gifts for the house of God were
types of many who would one day come from heathen lands and help to
build the temple of God.
" Chelem” is a copyist’s error for Cheldai and “Hen” is doubtless
another name for Joshua.
Ver. 15. "they that are afar off ”,—The reference is primarily to
the distant stranger, including of course the Jews of the dispersion, the
return of the latter and the conversion of the former.
“ye shall know”, —i. e.. when the events correspond to the prediction.
“if” ,—This does not mean that their unbelief could set aside God’s
gracious purpose as to the coming of the Messiah, but that His glory should
not be manifest to the disobedient Jews unless they turn to Him with
manifest repentance.
Says Scofield, “The invariable order is followed, first the judgments
and then the kingdom, and we have here a symbolical representation of
Christ in His kingdom glory. The fulfillment of the Branch will infinitely
transcend the symbol. He shall 'bear the glory' as the Priest-King on
His own throne. Christ is now a Priest, but still in the holiest within the
veil and seated on the Father’s throne. He has not yet come out to take
His own throne. The crowns were laid up in the temple to keep alive
this larger hope of Israel.’’
CHAPTER SEVEN
Past Results of Disobedience.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 And the word of Jehovah of hosts
came lo me, saying. 2 Thus saith Jeho¬
vah of hosts: I am jealous for Zion
with great jealousy, and I am jealous
for her with great wrath. 3 Thus saith
Jehovah: I am returned unto Zion, and
will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:
and Jerusalem shall be called The city
of truth; and the mountain of Jehovah
of hosts. The holy mountain. 4 Thus
saith Jehovah of hosts: There shall yet
old men and old women Mwell in the
streets of Jerusalem, every man with his
staff in his hand 'for very age. 3 And
*Or. sit
-'Heb. for multitude of days
Vers. 1-8. PROMISE OF FUTURE BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE
Vcr. 3. “I am returned”, —i. e., determined to return.
“The city of truth ”,—i. e., the city where truth is found
the streets of the city shall be full of
boys and girls playing in the streets
thereof. 6 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
If it be marvellous in the eyes of the
remnant of this people in those days,
should it also be marvellous in mine
eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts. 7 Thus
saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will
save my people from the east country,
and from the west country: 8 and I
will bring them, and they shall dwell
in the midst of Jerusalem: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their
God. in truth and in righteousness.
292
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 4. A beautiful picture of long life, security and happiness.
The strict fulfillment is to be referred to Messianic times and in complete
fulfillment to the Millennium times.
Ver. 6. “the remnant ",—This refers, as also in verses 11 and 12,
to the remnant of Judah which returned from Babylon, and among whom
Zechariah was prophesying. If the thing predicted seemed impossible to
them, i. e., in their eyes, it was not so in His, Jehovah’s.
Ver. 7. He will save His people from all lands as far as the sun
shines. They are now found in countries especially west of Jerusalem.
The dispersion under Nebuchadnezzar was only to the east. It would
appear therefore that the restoration is as yet future. In a spiritual sense
Jerusalem stands for the Messianic kingdom, while the literal interpretation
(F. He. Sco. Pre. Koe.) calls for an actual restoration to their own land.
Campbell Morgan says here, "This is a prophecy never yet fulfilled;
and I believe one of the very first things after the Apocalypse of Jesus with
His saints, and when the man of sin has been destroyed, will be the gather¬
ing of God’s ancient people to their own city."
9 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let
your hands be strong, ye that hear in
these days these words from the mouth
of the prophets that were in the day
that the foundation of the house of Je¬
hovah of hosts was laid, even the tem¬
ple, that it might be built. 10 For
before those days there was no hire for
man. nor any hire for beast; neither
was there any peace to him that went
out or came in, because of the adversary:
for I set all men every one against his
neighbor. 1 1 But now I will not be
unto the remnant of this people as in
the former days, saith Jehovah of hosts.
1 2 For there shall be the seed of peace;
the vine shall give its fruit, and the
ground shall give its increase, and the
heavens shall give their dew; and I will
cause the remnant of this people to
inherit all these things.
13 And it shall come to pass that,
as ye were a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
so will I save you, and ye shall be a
blessing. Fear not, but let your hands
be strong.
14 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
As I thought to do evil unto you, when
your fathers provoked me to wrath,
saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented
not; 15 so again have I thought in these
days to do good unto Jerusalem and to
the house of Judah: fear ye not. 16
These are the things that ye shall do:
Speak ye every man the truth with his
neighbor; Execute the judgment of
truth and peace in your gates; 17 and
let none of you devise evil in your
hearts against his neighbor; and love
no false oath: for all these are things
that I hate, saith Jehovah.
1 8 And the word of Jehovah of hosts
came unto me, saying, 19 Thus saith
Jehovah of hosts: the fast of the fourth
month, and the fast of the fifth, and
the fast of the seventh, and the fast of
the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah
joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts;
therefore love truth and peace.
1 Heb. judge truth and the judgment of
fence
Vers. 9-19. The Restoration Prophets Are To Be Heeded.
Ver. 9. “prophets', —Haggai and Zechariah himself.
“before those days', —i. e., in which work on the temple was resumed.
“went out or came in ",—i. e., engaged in their ordinary occupations.
By " adversary " is doubtless meant the foe without and by “every one
against his neighbor " is meant intestine discord.
Ver. 11. “But now ",—i. e., now and from now on.
293
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 12. " the seed of peace’, —There is no doubt but that the
meaning is the seed shall be prosperous. (F. Ch. Wo. He. Pre. A-V.)
Keil and others render, "The seed of peace, namely, the vine shall’’,
etc.; but the vine is no more a vegetation that grows in peaceful times than
other kinds of vegetation.
Ver. 13. “ye shall be a blessing”, —They were to be an example of
blessedness as they were before an example of an accursed people, i. e., a
people upon whom the curse of God had rested.
Fausset says, " The distinct mention of Judah and Israel proves that
the prophecy has not yet had its full accomplishment, since Israel (the ten
tribes) has never yet been restored, although individuals of Israel did return
with Judah/*
Ver. 16. “gates’, —The place where justice was usually admin¬
istered.
Ver. 19. The fast of the fourth month was on account of the
taking of Jerusalem (Jer. 39.2) ; that of the fifth month was on account
of the burning of the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar; that of the
seventh month on account of the murder of Gedaliah and his friends (Jer.
41.1), and that of the tenth month was on account of the commencement
of the siege against Jerusalem (Jer. 5 2.4). These were all to be turned
into festivals of joy.
20 Thus saith Jehovah of hoses: It
shall yet come to pass, that there shall
come peoples, and the inhabitants of
*many cities: 21 and the inhabitants
of one city shall go to another, saying,
Let us go speedily to entreat the favor
of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of
hosts: I will go also.
22 Yea, many peoples and strong na-
'Or, great
Vers. 20-23. JERUSALEM YET To Be THE RELIGIOUS CENTER OF THE
Earth.
Ver. 20. “peoples”, —i. e., entire nations. The connection is
dropped at the end of the verse and resumed in verse 22.
Ver. 21. “I will go also”, —The prompt response of each of the
parties addressed.
Ver. 22. “many peoples and strong nations”, —This is of course
Messianic, but it is entirely consistent as well with the literal interpretation
that reserves the full accomplishment till Jerusalem becomes the center of
Christianized Jewry. (Rom. 11.12,15.)
Ver. 23. “ten”, —A definite number put for an indefinite. (Gen.
31.7.)
The heathen will not only go in streams to Jerusalem but will seek
intimate connection with the Jewish nation.
“of all the languages of the nations”, —i. c., of the nations of all
languages.
tions shall come to seek Jehovah of
hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the
favor of Jehovah.
23 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In
those days it shall come to pass, that
ten men shall take hold, out of all the
languages of the nations, they shall take
hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew.
saying, We will go with you, for we
have heard that God is with you.
294
ZECHARIAH
"take hold of the skirts', —A gesture of entreaty.
“go with you ",—i. e., not only to the house of God (Hit.), but in
other ways as well. (Ruth 1.16.)
“in those days', —The days when Jerusalem has been made the center
of the earth’s worship. Says Scofield, "The Jew will then be the mission¬
ary, and to the very 'nations’ now called 'Christian'."
CHAPTER NINE
Chapters 9 to 14 were written thirty years later.
Vers. 1-8. A graphic account of Alexander's conquests in Syria in
the language of prophecy and also a prophecy of Philistia's incorporation
with Judah.
“The greater meaning of these verses’ } says Scofield, “converges on
the yet future last days, as the last clause of verse 8 shows, for many oppres¬
sors have passed through Jerusalem since the days of Alexander ."
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion; shout. O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he
is just, and ‘having 'salvation; lowly,
and riding upon an ass, even upon a
colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and
the horse from Jerusalem; and the bat¬
tle bow shall be cut off; and he shall
speak peace unto the nations; and his
dominion shall be from sea to sea, and
from the River to the ends of the earth.
1 1 As for thee also, because of the
blood of thy covenant I have set free
thy prisoners from the pit wherein is
no water. 12 Turn you to the strong¬
hold, ye prisoners of hope: even today
do I declare that I will render double
unto thee.
13 For I have bent Judah for me, I
have filled the bow with Ephraim; and
‘Heb. saved
"Or, victory
s Or, return
I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against
thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee
as the sword of a mighty man. 14 And
Jehovah shall be seen over them; and
his arrow shall go forth as the light¬
ning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow
the trumpet, and will go with whirl¬
winds of the south. 15 Jehovah of
hosts will defend them; and they shall
devour, and shall tread down the sling-
stones; and they shall drink, and make
a noise as through wine; and they shall
be filled like bowls, like the corners of
the altar. 16 And Jehovah their God
will save them in that day as the flock
of his people; for they shall be as the
stones of a crown, lifted on high over
his land. 17 For how great is ®his
^goodness, and how great is B his beauty!
grain shall make the young men flourish,
and new wine the virgins.
^Or, glittering upon, &*c.
^Or, their
"Or, prosperity
Vers. 9-17. SAFETY AND PEACE BECAUSE OF THE COMING MESSIAH
Whose Dominion Is To Be Universal.
Ver. 10. "This and the verses which follow", say some, "look for¬
ward to the end-time and the kingdom." Its immediate reference is per¬
haps to the deliverance under the Maccabees from the tyranny of Antiochus
Epiphanes.
“from Ephraim . . . from Jerusalem”, —Both the ten and the two
tribes, "which", says Fausset, "are to be restored hereafter".
"sea to sea’, —Primarily the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
“the River ",—The Euphrates. These boundaries fulfill Gen. 15.18;
Ex. 23.31 and Ps. 72.8. "This", says Fausset, "is to be the center of the
Messiah's future kingdom and from thence extended to all the earth."
295
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 1 1. "thee", —i. e., the whole nation, the ten and two tribes.
"blood of thy covenant", —i. e. f the covenant between them ratified
by the blood of sacrifices.
"the pit wherein is no water", —An image of the misery of the Jews
in exile.
"set free", —i. e., delivered them from the oppression of Antiochus
Epiphanes, this deliverance being a type of the future deliverance from
their last great persecutor hereafter. (Isa. 51.14; 60.1.)
"prisoners", —This is not necessarily to be restricted to the Jews in
exile but is to be taken rather of the entire people.
Ver. 12. "the stronghold", —An emblem of the security they are
to find in the Messiah.
"prisoners of hope", —i. e., the hope just expressed, hope in a
covenant-keeping God.
"render double", —i. e., double the prosperity you formerly had
(Ch.), or perhaps better, doubly greater than your adversity. (F. Wo. )
"even today", —i. e., in spite of all threatening circumstances.
Vers. 13-15. The Maccabean deliverance.
Ver. 16. "lifted on high", —Many prefer the marginal reading,
"glittering on high". (K. Ew. Ch. Ma. Koe. Fur.) The reference is to
the gems of a crown flashing from the brow of a conqueror as he stalks
over the land.
Ver. 17. "his", —i. e., Jehovah's. (F. He. Ch. Ew. Hen. Pre.)
"goodness . . . beauty", —i. e., which He bestows upon His people.
"corn" and "wine", —i. e., indicating peace and prosperity.
CHAPTER TEN
1 Ask ye of Jehovah rain in the time
of the latter rain, evert of Jehovah that
maketh lightnings; and he will give
them showers of rain, to every one
grass in the field. 2 For the teraphim
have spoken vanity, and the diviners
have seen a lie; and ‘they have told false
dreams, they comfort in vain: therefore
they go their way like sheep, they are
afflicted, because there is no shepherd. 3
Mine anger is kindled against the shep¬
herds, and I will punish the he-goats;
for Jehovah of hosts hath visited his
flock, the house of Judah, and will make
them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 From him shall come forth the corner¬
stone, from him the nail, from him the
battle-bow, from him every 1 2 * 4 ruler to¬
gether. 5 And they shall be as mighty
’Or, the dreamers speak falsely
*Or. exactor
men, treading down their enemies in the
mire of the streets in the battle; and
they shall fight, because Jehovah is with
them; and the riders on horses shall be
confounded. 6 And I will strengthen
the house of Judah, and I will save the
house of Joseph, and I will bring them
back; for I have mercy upon them; and
they shall be as though I had not cast
them off; for I am Jehovah their God,
and I will hear them.
7 And they of Ephraim shall be like
a mighty man. and their heart shall
rejoice as through wine; yea. their
children shall see it, and rejoice; their
heart shall be glad in Jehovah.
8 I will hiss for them, and gather
them; for I have redeemed them: and
they shall increase as they have increased.
Vers. 1-8. Former MERCIES RESTORED TO JUDAH AND ISRAEL.
Ver. 1. The promise of rain and the fruitful season. Scofield says
296
ZECHARIAH
that there is here both a physical and a spiritual meaning; rain as of old
will be restored to Palestine, but also, there will be a mighty effusion of the
Spirit upon restored Israel.
Ver. 2. Idolatry, the cause of their affliction, to cease.
Vers. 3-5. Deliverance through God's blessing upon her own native
rulers. “The whole scene'', says Scofield, “is of the events which group
about the deliverance of the Jews in Palestine in the time of the northern
invasion under the 'beast' (Dan. 7.8; Rev. 19.20), and ‘Armageddon’
(Rev. 16.14; 19.17). The final deliverance is wholly effected by the
Return of the Lord. That there may have been a precursive fulfillment
in the Maccabean victories can neither be affirmed nor denied from Scrip¬
ture."
Ver. 6. Fausset here claims that the distinct mention of Israel, the
ten tribes, shows that there is yet a more complete restoration than that
from Babylon when Judah alone with a very few Israelites returned.
“bring them back” ,—He promises to bring them back and cause them
to dwell as in olden time in their own land.
Ver. 8. “hiss for them”, —This refers to calling them together as
do the keepers of bees by a hissing sound or whistle.
“So Jehovah, by the mere word of His mouth, shall gather back to
Palestine His scattered people. The multitudes mentioned by Josephus,
as peopling Galilee two hundred years after this time were but a pledge
of the future more perfect fulfillment of the prophecy." (Fausset.)
9 ‘And I will sow them among the
peoples; and they shall remember me in
far countries; and they shall live with
their children and shall return.
10 I will bring them again also out
of the land of Egypt, and gather them
out of Assyria; and 1 will bring them
into the land of Gilead and Lebanon;
and place shall not be found for them.
“Or, And though / sow them .... they shall
remember, iW.
11 And he will pass through the sea
of affliction, and will smite the *waves
in the sea, and all the depths of the
Nile shall dry up; and the pride of
Assyria shall be brought down, and the
sceptre of Egypt shall depart.
12 And I will strengthen them in
Jehovah; and they shall walk up and
down in his name, saith Jehovah.
*Or, the sea of waves
Vers. 9-12. The Dispersion and the Regathering of Israel.
Ver. 9. “I will sow them“ ,—Never does this word, when applied
to men, have the sense of scattering, abandoning, destroying (He. Hit.
Fur.), but always the idea of increase. It therefore means here to cause
to increase. The dispersion was with a special design. It is a Hebrew
future and is said of that which has been done, is being done, and may be
done afterwards.
Ver. 10. “Egypt and Assyria”, —These are types of the present
universal dispersion.
“Gilead and Lebanon” ,—Their old dwellings east and west of Jor¬
dan, with special reference perhaps to northern Palestine, the former home
of the ten tribes.
Ver. 11. “he will pass through the sea with affliction”, —i. e., He
will afflict the sea. “As before at the Red Sea, so now He marches through
297
ZECHARIAH
the deep at the head of His chosen and smites down the roaring waves.”
(Chambers.) He will cause such things to cease to be an obstacle to their
restoration.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Israel’s rejection caused by her persistent and deliberate wickedness.
Vers. 1-6. The Wrath AGAINST THE LAND.
This, says Scofield, was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem after
the rejection of the Messiah.
7 So I fed the flock of slaughter. called ’Beauty, and the other I called
verily ] the poor of the flock. And I ’Bands; and I fed the flock,
took unto me two staves: the one I
’Or, the most miserable of sheep "Or, Graciousness
3 Or, Binders Or, Union
Vers. 7-14. JEHOVAH’S WRATH CAUSED BY THE SALE AND REJECTION
of the Messiah.
Ver. 7. “Beauty .... Bands”, —Literally, "graciousness" and
"union”, the first signifying God’s attitude toward His people Israel in
sending His Son, and the second, His purpose to reunite Judah and
Ephraim.
"poor of the Rock”, —"This is", says Scofield, " ‘the remnant accord¬
ing to the election of grace’ (Rom. 1 1.5) ; those Jews who did not wait
for the manifestation of Christ in glory, but believe on Him at His first
coming, and since. Of them it is said that ‘they waited upon me’, and
‘knew’ (verse 11). Neither the Gentiles nor the Gentile Church cor¬
porately are in view; only the believers out of Israel during this age.’’
1 5 And Jehovah said unto me. Take
unto thee yet again the instruments of a
foolish shepherd.
16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd
in the land, who will not Visit those
that are 'cut off. neither will seek ’those
that are scattered, nor heal that which
'Or, miss
-’Or, lost
3 0 ,, the yotntg
is broken, nor feed that which *\s sound;
but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep,
and will tear their hoofs in pieces.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
that leaveth the flock! the sword shall
be upon his arm. and upon his right
eye: his arm shall be clean dried up. and
his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
■*Hcb. standelh
Vers. 15-17. The Judgment OF THE WICKED SHEPHERD.
Ver. 15. “implements”, —The crook, bag, pipe, knife, etc.
“foolish ”,—Literally, "wicked".
Ver. 16. “tear their hoofs in pieces”, —This may refer either to
cruelty, even as the flock is driven over rough and rocky places (F. Ew.
Hit.), or to the ferocious greed of the shepherds who will even rend these
extremities rather than lose a shred of the flesh. (Ch.)
Ver. 17. “arm . . . eye ”,—The judgment is upon the arm that
ought to have defended and the eye that ought to have watched.
Who is meant by the " wicked shepherd”?
298
ZECHARIAH
1. Herod. (He.)
2. The Roman rulers. (K. F. Hof. Koe.)
3. The whole body of native rulers. (Hen.)
4. The Beast of Dan. 7.8 and Rev. 19.20. (Sco.)
The primary reference is doubtless to the Roman rulers, although
they stand no doubt as a type of the later antichristian power which is to
rise in the last times.
Scofield says, ‘‘The reference to the Beast is obvious; no other per¬
sonage of prophecy in any sense meets the description. He who came in
His Father's name was rejected; the alternative is one who comes in his
own name."
Fausset says, "They were given up to Rome and shall be again given
up to the Antichrist, the instrument of judgment by Christ's permission.
Antichrist will first make a covenant with them as their ruler, will break
it, and they shall feel the iron yoke of his tyranny as the false Messiah
because they rejected the light yoke of the true Messiah. But at last he
is to perish utterly (verse 17) and the elect remnant of Judah is to be saved
gloriously."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Scofield contends that Chaps. 12-14 form one prophecy, the general
theme of which is the Return of the Lord and the establishment of the
kingdom.
1 The ’burden of the word of Jeho¬
vah concerning Israel.
Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth
forth the heavens, and layeth the foun¬
dation of the earth, and formeth the
spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I
will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling
unto all the peoples round about, and
^r, oracle
2 upon Judah also '^shall it be in the
siege against Jerusalem. 3 And it shall
come to pass in that day, that I will
make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for
all the peoples; all that burden them¬
selves with it shall be sore wounded;
and all the nations of the earth shall be
gathered together against it.
-Or, against
3 Or, shall it fall lo be
Vers. 1-3. JERUSALEM WHEN BESIEGED TO BECOME THE INSTRU¬
MENT of Judgment on Her Foes.
Ver. 2. "a cup of reeling", —i. e., a cup containing God’s wrath,
the drinking of which will cause them to reel and fall in hopeless weak¬
ness, etc.
"upon Judah also shall it be", —i. e., she shall be involved in the
same trial and be also a cup of trembling to her foes.
Ver. 3. "a burdensome stone ",—This is taken from one of the
sports of the young men who test their strength by lifting great stones by
which they are sometimes crushed.
Fausset says, "The Jews fell on the stone of offense, Messiah, and
were broken; but the stone shall fall on Antichrist who ‘burdens himself
with it’ and grind him to powder."
299
ZECHARIAH
" all the nations of the earth”, —Here again those who interpret liter
ally mention the fact that the antichristian confederacy against the Jews
shall be almost universal.
4 In that day. saith Jehovah. I will
smite every horse with terror, and his
rider with madness: and I will open
mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and
will smite every horse of the peoples
with blindness. 5 And the chieftains
of Judah shall say in their heart. The
inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength
in Jehovah of hosts their God. 6 In
that day will I make the chieftains of
Judah like a pan of fire among wood,
and like a flaming torch among sheaves:
and they shall devour all the peoples
round about, on the right hand and on
the left: and they of Jerusalem shall yet
again dwell in ’their own place, even in
Jerusalem. 7 Jehovah also shall save
the tents of Judah first, that the glory
of the house of David and the glory of
J Heb. her
Vers. 4-10. The SIEGE ITSELF.
Many scholars would have us believe that the refetence is to the battle
of Armageddon.
Ver. 4. “I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah”, —i. e.,
to guard over her, Judah standing here for the whole nation.
Ver. 6. “ all the peoples round about”,—Many persist in finding an
ultimate reference here to the final antichristian foes of Israel. Fausset says
that Daniel represents the Antichrist more as a king with his conquests.
St. John dwells more on his spiritual tyranny, while here in Zechariah his
army is more fully described.
Ver. 7. " save the tents of Judah first”, —The unprotected open land
as against the fortified city, the latter of which must know that in either
case the victory was from God.
Ver. 8. " shall be as David”, —David was to the Jew the highest
type of strength and glory.
the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah” ,—It
shall exceed even its highest fame of old.
Many commentators refer this prophecy, as we have seen, to the deal¬
ings of God with the national Israel in the last days, in the last great
struggle of ungodliness. (V. F. K. Mi. Dat. Sco.)
Chambers objects to this interpretation, but says, however, “It is
manifestly easier to interpret the passage in its details upon this literal view
of its application.” (See Lange’s Commentary in loco.)
Ver. 10. “the Spirit of grace and supplication”, —i. e., the Spirit
which brings grace, producing in the minds of men the experience of the
grace of God and so leading to supplication.
“whom they have pierced”, —The reference is here plainly to the
Messiah.
the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not
magnified above Judah. 8 In that day
shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: and he *that is feeble among
them at that day shall be as David: and
the house of David shall be as God. as
the angel of Jehovah before them. 9
And it shall come to pass in that day.
that I will seek to destroy all the na¬
tions that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house
of David, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplication: and they shall look unto
*me whom they have pierced: and they
shall mourn for him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitter¬
ness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born.
a Or, that itumbleth
3 According to some MSS., him
300
ZECHARIAH
“me . . . him *,—This change of person is not uncommon in Hebrew.
“The conversion and restoration of the Jews", says Seiss, “the Saviour
Himself connects with His promised return, as also does the Apostle Paul,
thus leaving no room for a Millennium of universal peace and righteous¬
ness before His second coming. Thus here the Lord says, ‘I will pour
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit
of grace and supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced .
11 In that day shall there be a great
mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning
of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megid-
don. 12 And the land shall mourn,
every family apart; the family of the
house of David apart, and their wives
apart; the family of the house of
Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13
the family of the house of Levi apart,
and their wives apart; the family of the
Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
14 all the families that remain, every
family apart, and their wives apart.
Vers. 11-14. The Repentance of the Remnant.
Vcr. 11. The mourning shall be as the mourning of the city of
Hadadrimmon for King Josiah who fell in the valley of Megiddon.
Ver. 12. “every family apart ”,—Retirement is natural and needful
for deep religious mourning and personal religion.
Four families are enumerated, two from the royal line under the
names of David and of his son Nathan, and two from the priestly line,
Levi and his grandson Shimei, after which he embraces all together. (F.
K. Ch. He. Lut. Hen. Koe.) Thus one leading family and one subordi¬
nate family of both the royal and priestly order is mentioned to show that
the grief pervades all from the highest to the lowest.
Ver. 14. “all the families that remain ',—Perhaps it is best to think
with Chambers of the remainder after those just specified, although New¬
man refers it to those who are left after the judgment. Thus also Fausset,
who says it refers to those who are left “after the fiery ordeal in which two
thirds fall. (Chap. 13.8,9.)“
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 In that day there shall be a foun¬
tain opened to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin
and for uncleanness. 2 And it shall
come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah
of hosts, that I will cut off the names
of the idols out of the land, and they
shall no more be remembered; and also
I will cause the prophets and the un¬
clean spirit to pass out of the land. 3
And it shall come to pass that, when
any shall yet prophesy, then his father
and his mother that begat him shall say
unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou
speakest lies in the name of Jehovah;
and his father and his mother that be¬
gat him shall thrust him through when
he prophesieth. 4 And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the prophets shall
be ashamed every one of his vision,
when he prophesieth; neither shall they
wear a hairy mantle to deceive: 5 but
he shall say. I am no prophet, I am a
tiller of the ground: for I have been
made a bondman from my youth. 6
And one shall say unto him, What are
these wounds between thine ’arms?
Then he shall answer, Those with
which I was wounded in the house of
my Triends.
*Heb. hands
-Or, lovers
301
ZECHARIAH
Vers. 1-6. IDOLATRY AND FALSE PROPHESYING To CEASE.
Ver. 1. "a fountain opened”, —It had long been opened but then
only will their eyes be opened to see it.
"for sin and for uncleanness”, —i. e., for judicial guilt and for im¬
purity. The reference is to the two-fold ritual of Moses. It is the blood
which cleanses from all sin.
Ver. 2. “cut off the names of the idols”, —The reference is to the
total extinction of idolatry, idolatry here representing all forms of ungodli¬
ness and immorality.
"prophets”, —i. e., false prophets.
"the unclean spirit”, —The spirit of uncleanness in opposition to the
spirit of holiness. The reference is to those who profess to be divinely
inspired but are in league with Satan, an active agency in direct contrast
to the Spirit of grace. (Chap. 12.10.)
Ver. 3. If such a false prophet prophesies his very parents would
not let parental affection keep them from punishing him.
Ver. 4. The revolution is to be so great that the false pretender
will be ashamed of his claims and will strip off his "hairy mantle”, the
badge of a prophet and a symbol of grief for the sins he is supposed to
reprove, by means of which in this case he was deceiving the people.
Ver. 5. Charged with his crime he denies it.
Ver. 6. He is asked about the tell-tale wounds between his arms,
i. e., on his breast, which to the questioners is palpable evidence that he
was wounded in connection with idolatrous worship. (See I Kings
18.28.)
"wounded in the house of his friends”, —Fausset takes this as an im¬
plied admission that he had pretended to prophesy and his friends in their
zeal for God had wounded him.
Hengstenberg says the word "friends” should be translated “lovers"
and made to refer to idols, which is also tantamount to admitting the
charge.
Chambers takes it as an evasion; they are simply chastisements he had
received from his friends or relatives.
7 Awake, O sword, against my shep¬
herd. and against the man that is my
fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered; and I will turn my hand
upon the little ones. 8 And it shall
come to pass, that in .all the land, saith
Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die: but the third shall be left
therein.
9 And I will bring the third part into
the fire, and will refine them as silver is
refined, and will try them as gold is
tried. They shall call on my name, and
1 will hear them: I will say. It is my
people; and they shall say, Jehovah is
my God.
Vers. 7-9. The SHEPHERD SMITTEN, THE FLOCK SCATTERED AND THE
Remnant Refined and Saved.
is
"Awake ”.—This is addressed to the sword personified,
here used representatively for any means of taking life. (Se
The sword
e Jer. 47.6.)
302
ZECHARIAH
" smite”, —In Matt. 26.31, where this is quoted, it is said, "I will
smite", thus showing that it is God’s act.
“my fellow ",—Used only here and a number of times in Leviticus.
It denotes a close and intimate connection. Who is this and who is the
“fellow”? It is the Messiah Himself, as the Fathers, Reformers and most
moderns take it. Other interpretations are "the foolish shepherd" of
Chap. 11.15 (Ma. Ew. Hit.), but this it cannot be, for God's “fellow”
could not in any appropriate sense be applied to an unworthy person.
Judas Maccabaeus (Gro.), Pekah (Bun.), Jehoiakim (Ma.), Josiah
(Pre.), the whole body of rulers including Christ (C.).
“the sheep”, —The covenant nation. The scattering of the Disciples
on His arrest was an initial fulfillment, a pledge of the dispersion of the
whole Jewish nation. Says Fausset, "The Jews are still His sheep waiting
to be gathered by Him. (Isa. 49.9,11.)"
“my hand upon the little ones”, —These are doubtless to be taken as
the humble followers of Christ from the Jewish Church, the " little flock”,
the “wretched of the flock” in Chap. 11.7,11, mercifully revisited.
Ver. 8. Keil says, "The dispersion of the flock will deliver two
thirds of the nation in the whole land to death, so that only one third will
remain alive." (See Ezek. 5.2-12.)
“cut off and die”, —This seems to show that literal death is meant.
Fausset says, "Since this has never been fulfilled it must await fulfillment in
'he future under the Antichrist ."
Ver. 9. " shall call on my name” ,—Hence, says Fausset, "it appears
:hat the Jews' conversion is not to precede but to follow their external
deliverance by the special interposition of Jehovah."
“in all the land” ,—Chambers, consistent with his method of spiritual
nterpretation, says, "This is not to be taken in a literal sense, but as repre-
jenting the domain covered by the kingdom of God", while others (K. F.
Hen. Sco. Koe.) refer it to the holy land, Palestine.
Some say the third part is the entire race of Jews during the present
dispensation (Mi. Koe.), but as Hengstenberg justly argues in that case
inbelieving Judaism would be regarded as the whole and legitimate con-
inuation of Israel, and this is simply impossible. Chambers says the third
>art is the entire kingdom of God on earth whether composed of Jews or
Jentiles."
Scofield contends that in these last two verses Zechariah is returning
o the subject of Chap. 12.10, and that they refer to the sufferings of the
emnant preceding the great battle of Armageddon.
:HAPTER FOURTEEN
1 Behold, a day of Jehovah cometh,
when thy spoil shall be divided in the
midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be
taken, and the houses rifled, and the
women ravished; and half of the city
shall go forth into captivity, and the
residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city.
3 Then shall Jehovah go forth and
fight against those nations, as when he
fought in the day of battle.
303
ZECHARIAH
Vers. 1-3. The Great Battle in the Day of Jehovah.
The final conflict and triumph of God's kingdom.
Ver. 1. “a day of Jehovah”, —A day appointed for the manifesta¬
tion of His glory and power.
“thy spoil ”,—i. e., that which the enemy takes from her.
Ver. 2. " half the city”, —Fausset to reconcile this with the two-
thirds of Chap. 13.8,9 says that there it was two-thirds of the entire land,
while here it is one half of the city.
To what does the event refer?
1. The time of the Maccabees. (C. Gro.)
2. The siege of Jerusalem by Titus. (Lo. Cl. He. Cy. The. Marc.)
But Titus did not have all nations under his banner, nor did he
leave one-half of the people in the city. For the same reason it
cannot apply to the Chaldean conquest.
3. The period just before the Babylonian exile. (Ma. Kn. Ew. Hit.
Bert.) But this is not at all consistent with facts.
4. All conflicts of the Church of God with her foes from the com¬
mencement of the Messianic era to its close. (K. Ch. Hen.)
3. A period yet future. (F. Ne. Co. Sco. Wor. Moo. Blay.) It
would seem that only according to this last view is it at all possible
to interpret the passage without meeting insurmountable dif¬
ficulties.
"This", says Campbell Morgan, "is an Old Testament prophecy of
the Apocalypse of the Lord with His holy ones, being that stage of Hts
coming elsewhere called His manifestation."
Ver. 3. The Deliverance of His People.
"as when He fought”, —Perhaps at the Red Sea (Hen.), although the
more general reference may seem better, that is, as shown on many former
occasions. (K. Ch. Koe.)
4 And his feet shall stand in that
day upon the mount of Olives, which is
before Jerusalem on the east: and the
mount of Olives shall be cleft in the
midst thereof toward the sea and toward
the wesc, and there shall be a very great
valley: and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half of
it toward the south.
5 And 5 ye shall flee 'by the valley of
3 my mountains: for the valley of the
mountains shall reach unto Azel: yea,
ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before
the earthquake in the days of Uzziah.
king of Judah: and Jehovah my God
'Or, as otherwise read, the valley of my
Mountains shall be stopped
■Or, to
a Or, the
Vers. 4-8. The Return of the Messiah to the Mount of Olives.
and the Physical Changes in the Land.
Ver. 4. The valley is to run east and west.
shall come, and all the holy ones with
thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that ‘there shall not be light: the
bright ones shall withdraw themselves:
7 but it shall be one day which is known
unto Jehovah: not day. and not night;
but it shall come to pass, that at even¬
time there shall be light.
8 And it shall come to pass in that
day. that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem: half of them towards the
eastern sea, and half of them toward the
western sea: in summer and in winter
shall it be.
4 Or. the light shall not be bright nor dark
304
ZECHARIAH
The prediction that His feet shall stand on the mount of Olives, Erd-
man says, is a proof that the Lord is to return to this earth.
Ver. 5. “by the valley”, —i. e., through it.
“my mountains’, —i. e., those made by the cleavage.
“reach unto Azel”, —This refers to a place near Jerusalem of which
no trace exists today.
One derivation of the word makes it mean "adjoining". (F. He.
Koe. Jer.) Fausset says, "The valley reaches up to the city gates so as to
enable the fleeing citizens to betake themselves to it immediately on leaving
the city".
Another derivation makes it mean "ceasing" (Hen.), the valley reach¬
ing to Azel where they will find cessation from danger. This puts the
place east of the mount of Olives.
“earthquake”, —This is referred to in Amos 1.1 but of it we have no
further information.
“with thee”, —The narrative here passes from indirect to direct ad¬
dress suddenly because of the rapture of the moment,—a thing not uncom¬
mon in Hebrew.
“all the holy ones with thee”, —All agree that angels are meant, and
to these are added by premillennarians redeemed men, glorified saints.
Ver. 6. This is a very difficult verse.
1. A very great preponderance of manuscript authority (Tar. It. Pe.)
as well as many commentators (He. Lut.) translate, "It will not be light,
but cold and ice".
2. Exegetical necessity almost compels one to accept the translation
of either the A-R-V or the A-V., and the preponderance of authority is
greatly on the side of the former. (K. Kl. Ch. Hen. Hof. Pre. Fur. Van.
Koe.) The whole verse then indicates a day of darkness.
Ver. 7. “one day ",—i. e., an unique day.
"known to Jehovah”, —And by implication to no one else.
“not day and not night”, —These words are easier explained in har¬
mony with the Authorized Version reading of verse 6. Both verse 6 and
verse 7 would then refer to an admixture like a dark day in which it is
hard to distinguish between the darkness and the light. If the reading
of our text, which we have preferred, in verse 6 be retained it is still possible
to find reference to the kind of a day just mentioned. Chambers, how¬
ever, explains, “not day and not night” in the sense of not being able to
determine what is day and what is night because the lights of heaven have
been put out, and this is in harmony with what is said elsewhere of the
Day of the Lord, i. e., a day of darkness.
“at eventime there shall be light”, —-When darkness would be ex¬
pected it suddenly becomes light.
Cowles says, "There is a gradation through three distinct stages, first,
utter darkness; then, a dim twilight like that of an eclipse; then at the close
when you might expect darkness to cover the earth, lo! the effulgence of
the full and glorious day."
Ver. 8. An ever-flowing stream toward the Dead Sea and toward
the Mediterranean, a lively image of abundance.
305
ZECHARIAH
9 And Jehovah shall be King over
all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah
be one, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be made like
the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon
south of Jerusalem; and she shall be
lifted up, and shall dwell in her place,
from Benjamin's gate unto the place
of the first gate, unto the corner gate,
and from the tower of Hananel unto the
king’s winepresses.
1 1 And men shall dwell therein,
and there shall be no more ‘curse; but
Jerusalem shall dwell safely.
12 And this shall be the plague
wherewith Jehovah will smite all the
peoples that have warred against Jeru¬
salem: their flesh shall consume away
‘Or, ban Or, devoting to destruction
while they stand upon their feet, and
their eyes shall consume away in their
sockets, and their tongue shall consume
away in their mouth.
1 3 And it shall come to pass in that
day. that a great ‘tumult from Jehovah
shall be among them; and they shrll
lay hold everyone on the hand of his
neighbor, and his hand shall rise up
against the hand of his neighbor.
14 And Judah also shall fight at Jeru¬
salem; and the wealth of all the na¬
tions round about shall be gathered to¬
gether. gold, and silver, and apparel, in
great abundance.
15 And so shall be the plague of the
horse, of the mule, of the camel, and
of the ass, and of all the beasts that
shall be in those camps, as that plague.
■Or, discomfiture
Vers. 9-15. The Kingdom Established Upon the Earth.
Ver. 9. “be one and His name one”, —i. e., be so recognized. Hi
alone will be worshipped and the worship of idols and other gods wtl
disappear.
Ver. 10. “Arabah’’, —The largest of the Judean plains running
from Lebanon to the further side of the Dead Sea.
“Geba and Rimmon”, —Cities on the northern and southern border:
of Judea.
“she”, —i. e., Jerusalem.
“from Benjamin’s gate (on the north) to”, etc., —It is a questior
whether “the first gate” (the old gate, Neh. 3.6) was on the east or or
the west. Some make the line run east to the “first gate” and west to thi
“corner gate” (F. K. Hen.), while others, with less probability, make th<
“first gate” and the "corner gate” the same and place it on the northwes
corner.
The idea is that the city is to have its former limits. Some put thi
tower of Hananel at the northeast corner and the wine presses at the south
others put the former at the south and the latter in the center of the city.
Ver. 11. This verse is used in Rev. 22.3 to describe the New Jeru
salem.
"The last day will end everything." (Au.)
"Temporal blessings and spiritual prosperity go hand in hand in th<
Millennium." (F.)
"In the nature of the case", says Seiss, "what is here foretold in verse*
9 to 11 can only be realized as the result of the great consummation. It is.
moreover, prefaced with the description of judicial administrations, in
which 'the Lord shall go forth, . . . and His feet shall stand in that day
upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east’."
Ver. 12. The foe that is here punished, says Fausset, is the last
antichristian confederacy.
306
ZECHARIAH
Ver. 1 3. “lay hold”, —Not for help, as some maintain, but to assail
him. (F. Ch.)
Ver. 14. “fight at Jerusalem”, —Not against Jerusalem (C. Ma.
Jer. Lut. Coc. Kim.), but fight at Jerusalem against her foes. (F. K. Ch.
KI. Hen. Koe.)
Ver. 1 5. Even the beasts of the foes shall be overtaken by the divine
curse.
16 And it shall come to pass, that
every one that is left of all the nations
that came against Jerusalem shall go up
from year to year to worship the King,
Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast
of tabernacles.
1 7 And it shall be, that whoso of all
the families of the earth goeth not up
unto Jerusalem to worship the King,
Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall
be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go not
up, and come not, neither shall it be
upon them; there shall be the plague
wherewith Jehovah shall smite the na¬
tions that go not up to keep the feast
of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the 'punishment
of Egypt, and the 'punishment of all
the nations that go not up to keep the
feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day shall there be upon
the bells of the horses, HOLY UNTO
JEHOVAH; and the pots in Jehovah's
house shall be like the bowls before the
altar.
21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in
Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah of
hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall
come and take of them, and boil there¬
in: and in that day there shall be no
more a Canaanite in the house of Jeho¬
vah of hosts.
’Or, sim
Vers. 16-21. The Worship and Spirituality of the New Order.
Ver. 16. “all the nations shall go up”, —This of course could not
be literally so, but they might go up by representatives. (F. He.) Those
who allow only a spiritual interpretation to the prophecy see here a strik¬
ing method of depicting the entrance of the heathen into the kingdom of
God.
There is a bright side to our Lord's coming, even to the nations.
It is clearly taught that every one that is left of the nations and kings and
princes shall worship and serve Jesus. (See Isa. 49.7; Psa. 2.8; 72.8-11.)
Says W. J. Erdman, "The return of Christ is followed by the con¬
version of the world, as is plainly shown by Paul in Rom. 1 1.25-27. A
fullness of Gentile believers is now coming in while Israel as a nation
remains in hardness of heart. When the number of the elect Church is
complete, the Redeemer comes out of Zion and turns away ungodliness
from Jacob and takes away their sins, and so 'all Israel shall be saved', and
when Israel is converted, the whole Gentile world will also be converted.
The same order of events was recognized by the apostolic Council at
Jerusalem. (See Rom. 11.12-15 and Acts 15.13-18.)"
“to keep the feast of tabernacles” ,—Why is this feast designated?
1. Because it was held during the best season for travel. (The. Gro.
Ros.)
2. Because it was the holiest and most joyful feast. (Pre. Ort. Kos.)
3. Because of its relation to the ingathering of the harvest. (Koe.)
307
ZECHARIAH
4. Because it could be held without any compromise of New Test*
ment principles. (He.)
5. Because the reference being to Messianic times the other two great
feasts (Passover and Pentecost) have had their antitypes fulfilled
and are gone. (F.)
6. Because of its interesting historical relation. (Ch. Mi. Hen. Dac.)
The last is perhaps the best reason. It was a feast of thanksgiving'
after their pilgrimage through the desert. It was so kept on their return
from Babylonish captivity, and so after their long dispersion it will be
appropriate again for the same reason. To the Gentiles also it will be
significant after their long wandering in their moral wilderness.
Ver. 17. “no rain’’, —Rain is one of the greatest blessings of God
because of the fruitfulness that follows it.
It is true, as Chambers says, that this does not compel us to believe
that at this period there will still be godless people. It may be taken as a
rhetorical enforcement of the thought that there will be none. It may
however be used with some propriety as authority for the view that there,
will be.
Fausset, referring the fulfillment of the prophecy to Millennium times,
says, “That there shall be unconverted men during and under the Millen¬
nium appears from the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it (Rev.
20.7-9), but they, like Satan their master, will be restrained during the
Millennium/'
Ver. 18. “Egypt”, —Even Egypt, who is not dependent on the
rain for her fertility, but on the Nile, is mentioned to show that not even
she shall escape. However, the Nile depends at its source on rain, and so
the better reason for this special mention of Egypt might seem to be the
fact that she was Israel’s old hereditary foe. Not even she shall escape.
Vers. 20,21. Every thing holy. Even the pots of the temple*
(used for boiling the sacrificial flesh) shall be as holy as the “bowls before
the altar” (which receive the blood of the victim), yea, and “every pot”.
(pots even for ordinary use) shall be as holy as them.
no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah ”,—The word does 1 ''
not mean “merchant”, as in Prov. 31.24 (Aq. Tar. Jer. Gro. Hit. Bun.),
nor literal Canaanite by birth (Kl. Hof. Dru.), but as Chambers and others
say, it is an emblematic designation of godless members of the covenant,
nation. Canaan was cursed among Noah s children. It means here no
unclean or ungodly person.
holiness, etc., on the bells”, —This does not mean that these bells
should be used for religious purposes or worship or used to make sacred*
vessels (Cy. Gro.), nor that horses and other means of warfare should be
consecrated to the Lord (Mi. Ma. Ew. Hit.), but that the distinction be¬
tween holy and profane should cease and all things should be sacred.
308
MALACHI
THE BOOK OF
MALACHI
(B. C. 397)
CHAPTER THREE
1 Behold, I send my messenger, and
he shall prepare the way before me: and
the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly
come to his temple; ‘and the 2 messenger
of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold,
he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. 2
But who can abide the day of his com¬
ing? and who shall stand when he ap-
peareth? for he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap: 3 and he will
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi, and
refine them as gold and silver: and they
shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in
‘Or, even
2 Or, angel
Vers. 1-6. The Mission of John the Baptist and the Coming of
the Lord.
Ver. 1. The answer to the last question of the last verse of the
preceding chapter.
“my messenger", —i. e., the one familiar to them from Isaiah’s proph¬
ecy. (Isa. 40.3.) The reference is of course to John the Baptist.
"the Lord", —The word here used is applied only to God, but this
same person is called in this same verse “the messenger (angel) of the cove¬
nant" , and therefore by “the Lord" it is evident that here the Christ is
meant, thus setting forth the deity of the Son of God.
“whom ye seek", —i. e., whom ye desire—spoken perhaps ironically
with reference to “where is the God of justice" of the preceding verse.
“suddenly", —i. e., unexpectedly. (F. Wo. Poc.)
“covenant", —This is understood by Keil and others of the Old
Covenant, but by most commentators it is taken as a reference to the New
Covenant. Perhaps the chief thought is that of the New Covenant, but we
see no reason for restricting it either to the one or the other exclusively.
The first clause of this verse is quoted of John the Baptist (Matt. 11.10;
Mk. 1.2; Lu, 7.27), but the second clause, “the Lord whom ye seek", etc..
is nowhere quoted in the New Testament. With reference to this Scofield
says, "The reason is obvious; in everything, save the fact of Christ’s first
advent, the latter clause awaits fulfillment (Hab. 2.20). Verses 2-5 speak
of judgment—not of grace. Malachi, in common with the other Old
Testament prophets, saw both advents of the Messiah blended in one
horizon, but did not see the separating interval described in Matt. I 3, con¬
sequent upon the rejection of the king (Matt. 13.16,17). Still less was
the Church-age in his vision. The "messenger of the Covenant" is Christ
righteousness. 4 Then shall the offer¬
ing of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant
unto Jehovah, as in the days of old,
and as in ancient years. 5 And I will
come near to you to judgment; and I
will be a swift witness against the sor¬
cerers, and against the adulterers, and
against the false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his
wages, the widow, and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the sojourner from
his right, and fear not me, saith Je¬
hovah of hosts. 6 For I, Jehovah,
change not; therefore ye, O sons of
Jacob, are not consumed.
309
MALACHI
in both of His advents, but with special reference to the events which arc
to follow His return."
Ver. 2. " who can abide”, —The day of the Lord is ‘‘great and very
terrible”, (Joel 2.11). It is a day of judgment. That the two comings
of Christ seem to be blended in one is quite the universal opinion of schol¬
ars both ancient and modern.
Augustine says, "The first and second advents of Christ are here
brought together".
Fausset says, "His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first
to the second advent". He further says, "The process of refining and sep¬
arating the godly from the ungodly beginning during Christ’s stay on
earth, and going on ever since, is to continue until the final separation
(Matt. 25.31-46). The refining process whereby a third of the Jews is
refined, as silver of its dross, and a whole two thirds perish is described.
(Zech. 13.8,9)."
Ver. 3. ‘‘he will purify the sons of Levi”, —These are the priests
and judgment begins at the house of God.
‘‘in righteousness”, —i. e., in a proper state of heart.
Ver. 4. " offering of Judah”, —The Hebrew word used here for
‘‘offering” is not that of expiation, but of prayer, thanksgiving and self¬
dedication.
‘‘as in the days of old”, —i. e., in the days of David.
Ver. 5. ‘‘near to you to judgment”, —Not only will the priests be
judged, but all the people also. The sins mentioned are those of which
the Jews were then and later guilty.
16 Then they that feared Jehovah
spake one with another; and Jehovah
hearkened, and heard, and a book of re¬
membrance was written before him, for
them that feared Jehovah, and that
thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith
Jehovah of hosts, even mine own pos¬
session, in the day that I 'make; and l
will spare them, as a man that spareth
his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him
that serveth him not.
‘Or, do this
Vers. 16-18. The Reward of the Faithful Remnant.
Verses 7 to 15 are taken up with the complainings of the ungodly
which was the occasion for ‘‘they that feared the Lord” to talk to one
another in defense of God.
Ver. 16. ‘‘a book of remembrance was written”, —A book written
for their advantage against the day of judgment when those found faithful
are rewarded.
Ver. 17. ‘‘mine own possession”, —Literally, "mine own peculiar
treasure".
‘‘in the day that I make”, —With the reading of our text agree most
of the authorities (Pa. Ma. Jer. Tar. Sep.), except that they differ some¬
what as to the word " make”, Literally this word means "do", as in
Chap. 4.3.
310
MALACHI
Calvin translates, “in the day in which I will do it”, i. e., fulfill
the promises made.
If the word "make” is retained the meaning is doubtless, as Grotius
says, “in the day that I make those things come to pass foretold in verse 5”.
Ver. 18. "ye”, —i. e., the wicked murmerers.
"return”, —i. e., to a better state of mind. The word may be taken
as an adverb and rendered “again’’, and the “and” omitted, i. e., “Then
shall ye again discern”, etc. (K. Pa. He. Ges. Koe.)
CHAPTER FOUR
1 For, behold, the day cometh, it
burneth as a furnace; and all the proud,
and all that work wickedness, shall be
stubble; and the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts,
that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch. 2 But unto you that fear my
name shall the sun of righteousness arise
with healing in its ^ings; and ye shall
’Or, beams
go forth, and gambol as calves of the
stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the
wicked: for they shall be ashes under
the soles of your feet in the day that I
3 make, saith Jehovah of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my
servant, which I commanded unto him
in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and
ordinances.
J Or, do this
Vers. 1-4. The Day of the Lord and the Second Coming of
Christ.
Ver. 1. "the day cometh”, —This is the "great and terrible day”
mentioned in Joel 2.31. There are those who refer this to the destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem while others of course refer it to the last great day. That
there may be a reference here to the destruction of Jerusalem cannot be
denied but certainly this does not exhaust the meaning of the verse unless
we confess to a gross exaggeration. It would seem that we have here again
the principle of successive fulfillment, the destruction of Jerusalem being
but an earnest of the later coming day of judgment.
"leave neither root nor branch”, —Not one shall escape, the expression
being one of utter destruction.
Ver. 2. "the sun of righteousness”, —Jewish commentators and
many others (K. Hen. Koe. Rei. Moo.) agree with the text of the American
Revised Version and make the idea that of “righteousness as a sun”, i. e.,
the consummation of salvation. But from parallel passages such as Isa. 9.1;
49.6, etc., from exegetical tradition and from internal evidence, it is, as
Packard says, better to understand it personally of Christ. (Pa. He. Eu.
Cy. The., the Fathers, the early and a majority of the modern commen¬
tators. )
"healing”, —i. e., salvation. The beams of the sun are here com¬
pared to the outstretched wings of a bird.
Ver. 3. "the wicked”, —i. e., those who have troubled them.
"they shall be ashes”, —i. e., after having been burnt with the fire of
judgment.
Fausset thinks the reference is to the righteous who shall be the army
attending Christ in His final destruction of the ungodly. (Mic. 7.10;
Zech. 10.5; I Cor. 6.2; Rev. 2.26,27.)
311
MALACHI
Vcr. 4. " Remember ye the law ",—The way in which the coming
judgment is to be averted. They would be apt to forget it in the absence
of living prophets of whom Malachi was the last for four hundred years.
5 Behold. I will send you Elijah the and the heart of the children ^o^their
prophet before the great and terrible day fathers; lest I come and smite the earth
of Jehovah come. 6 And he shall turn with a 3 curse.
the heart of the fathers \o the children,
’Or with 2 ° r - tand,
3 ()r, ban Or, devoting to de struct ion
Vers. 5,6. Elijah To Come BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD.
Ver. 5. This seems to be a repetition of the promise of Chap.
3.1 in more specific form.
Christ said that John the Baptist fulfilled both of these prophecies in
Malachi and that he was the fore-runner meant in each of them.
“This is he of whom it is written 'Behold I send my messenger before
thy face and he shall prepare the way before thee’.”
“And if ye will receive it, this is the Elijah who was to come.”
“Elijah is come already and they knew him not.’’ “Then under¬
stood they that He spoke to them of John the Baptist/'
The angel said to John the Baptist’s father before the birth of his son,
“And he shall go before him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah/’
This is enough to prove that John the Baptist was meant by the
“messenger” in Malachi 3.1, and by “Elijah” in Malachi 4.5, so far as the
first coming of Christ is concerned.
When John the Baptist in John 1.21 denied that he was Elijah he
meant only in the sense to which the Jews had reference, because he knew
they were naturally thinking of a literal, personal Elijah, according to their
interpretation of Malachi’s prophecy. But John in fact said that he was
the Elijah of Malachi, in this other sense, when he affirmed, “I am the
voice of one crying in the wilderness, *Make straight the way of the
Lord’.”
The Jews hold that a literal, personal Elijah was meant by Malachi
in Chap. 4.5 and that it referred to Christ’s first coming, and therefore
they say that Christ has not yet come because the literal, personal Elijah
has not yet come.
Most of the Fathers, Cy. Or. Chr. The. Jer. Ter. Aug. Theo., the
Romish interpreters and many modern Protestant commentators hold also
that a literal, personal Elijah is meant in Chap. 4.5, but these teach that
the prophecy has a double fulfillment; that John came in the spirit and
power of Elijah before Christ’s first coming, but that the real, literal, per¬
sonal Elijah will come before the second coming of Christ. (S. A. O. F.
Ma. Ry. Ew. Hit. Sco.)
Alford says, "John the Baptist only partially fulfilled the great
prophecy which announced the real Elijah (the words of Malachi will
hardly bear any other than a literal, personal meaning) who is to fore-run
the second and greater coming."
Now Christ said in Matt. 17.10, “Truly Elijah shall first come and
restore all things” . Some commentators explain this by saying that Christ
put Himself back in Malachi’s time and uses these words with a future
312
MALACHI
reference from there, but it is far more in keeping with careful exegesis to
refer them to a future and second coming after the time when the words
were uttered by Christ, as do all the expositors mentioned above, except
of course the Jewish commentators.
Therefore that Elijah will come before the second coming of Christ
seems quite certain, although it is not determined with absolute certainty
whether he will be the personal Elijah (against which, however, no strong
objection can be urged) or another John, as it were, in the spirit and
power of Elijah. The natural inference is that he will be the real, personal
Elijah.
Ver. 6. Some refer this to a restoration of family harmony. (He.
Ma. Ew.) It is better, however, to refer it to the reconciliation to be
effected between the unbelieving, disobedient children and their godly,
believing ancestors. They had been estranged from the piety of their ances¬
tors and the bond of union which had been broken will be restored. If
this reconciliation is not thus effected Messiah’s coming would prove a
curse and not a blessing.
THE GOSPEL OF
MATTHEW
(A. D. 37)
CHAPTER TEN
23 for verily. I say unto you. Ye
shall not have gone through the cities
of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Ver. 23. The Coming of the Lord in the Destruction of Jeru¬
salem.
"gone through ”,—This means literally "to make an end of", i. e.,
you shall not have finished your mission to the cities of Israel.
"till the Son of man be come ”,—This expression here is most cer¬
tainly a direct reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which historically
put an end to the old dispensation and which is of course a type of the final
coming of the Lord. It is what Alford calls "an immediate literal and
distant foreshadowing fulfillment". This interpretation has more in its
favor and less against it than any other. (A. R. Eb. Mi. Glo. Moe. Ges.
Schot.) Indeed every other view is either entirely gratuitous and far¬
fetched or if it has any due regard at all for the accepted meaning of the
phraseology it becomes the subject of insurmountable difficulty.
Meyer says the personal second coming of Christ is meant. He says
the phrase, "the Son of man cometh”, always has a definite doctrinal sig¬
nification, and always refers to Christ's personal coming, and that Jesus
here speaks of this coming as being thus near, even as He does in Chap.
16.28. But this is hardly in keeping with Christ’s own statement that
He Himself did not know the day of His coming, inasmuch as a prophecy
that it was so near at hand would imply that He did know somewhat as
to the time, while furthermore it is difficult to conceive of Christ being the
author of any such misconception as to the time of His personal second
coming at the end of the age.
It will be interesting to note the various expedients to which com
mentators have committed themselves in attempting to resolve the difficulty
of the passage before us. One of the most curious is that of Blackstone,
who, with Meyer, says the reference is to the personal second coming of
Christ, but who escapes the embarrassment this view involves by declaring
that not even yet in this twentieth century have the followers of Christ
gone through the cities of Israel. The work, begun in the day of the
Disciples, has been interrupted, but will be resumed in the last days and
then Christ will come. But this cannot appeal with any great force to
the impartial exegete, being, as it seems, rather something of a convenient
makeshift which avoids the real issue of the text.
The expression is explained by some as a vague "coming of the Son
of man to their help". (Chr. Bez. Kui. The. Eut. Zig. Theo.) This view
is advanced from the feeling that the connection demands reference to
something that was to happen very soon. But such explanation does not
314
MATTHEW
suit the earnest “verily* , nor the fact that in reality it was they who came
back to Jesus. (Lu. 9.10.)
Others make " gone through** mean "finish" in the sense of bringing
to Christian perfection, and thus in this way remove the time for Christ’s
coming far into the future. (Hi. Hof. Mai. Jan. Zeg.) This Meyer
rightly calls "an erroneous makeshift".
Neither must the expression be explained as a coming through the
Holy Spirit (C. Ca. Bl. Gro.) ; nor allegorically, i. e., until the victory of
Christ’s cause comes (B-C) ; nor yet, “until the Son of man overtake you*,
seeing that the Disciples in their mission only preceded Christ. (L. Heub.)
Olshausen says the Resurrection, the coming through the Holy Spirit
at Pentecost and even the destruction of Jerusalem were all too remote
from the Disciples during the first period of their ministry, and he says
the words involve by way of anticipation a wider range of vision and
blend the early mission of the Disciples with their subsequent one. But
is such liberty of extension of the thought of Christ on the part of Mat¬
thew altogether warranted with reference to any teaching?
Says Campbell Morgan, "This was the first reference that Christ ever
made to His coming in any other sense than that of His presence with them
in the world at the time. It was an incidental word, and I personally
feel that there can be no escape from the conviction that upon that occasion
His reference was not to the coming with which He dealt at a later period,
but to His visitation of Jerusalem in judgment at her destruction a genera¬
tion after His Cross."
CHAPTER TWELVE
18 Behold, my servant whom I have
chosen;
My beloved in whom my soul is
well pleased:
I will put my Spirit upon him.
And he shall declare judgment to the
Gentiles.
19 He shall not strive, nor cry aloud;
Neither shall any one hear his voice
in the streets.
20 A bruised reed shall he not break.
And smoking flax shall he not
quench,
Till he send forth judgment unto
victory.
Vers. 18-20. The End-time Judgment upon the Gentiles.
Practically all scholars arc agreed that by “declaring judgment to the
Gentiles** reference is made to Christ as Judge announcing final judicial
sentence to the Gentiles at the day of judgment. All are equally agreed
that by until he send forth judgment unto victory** is meant "until He
cause His judgment to end in victory in the day of final decision, so that
no further conflict will remain", i. e., "until He shall have led forth unto
victory at the last day the judgment announced by Him". The holding
of the final assize is the victory of the judgment.
Alford has rightly said of the last clause of verse 18 that "it con¬
trasts the majesty of His future glory with the meekness about to be spoken
of".
Verses 19 and 20 then refer to the disposition of the lowly Christ in
His day and ours. "In the present day", as Morgan says, "He does not
strive nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets: neither will He break
the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till —there is an emphasis
on that word which we must regard if we are to understand the passage—
315
MATTHEW
till He send forth judgment unto victory.” Verse 20, in fact, has nothing
to do with the dispensation in which we live, and the “bruised reed” and
“smoking Rax” do not refer, as is usually supposed, to "men and women
whose aspirations after Him are weak but will not be despised”, because
there is a time coming when He will break the bruised reed and quench the
smoking flax. These expressions, therefore, refer to His enemies, as will
be seen by referring to the original of the quotation in Isa. 42.1-4. In
His day of grace and mercy He is longsuffering with those who stand out
against Him, but in the time yet to come beyond this day of grace and
mercy, “He will break and quench His enemies, and He will sweep before
the majesty of His coming, as chaff of the threshing floor, the evil things
which so affright us by their tremendous hold upon our age. In that day
He will send forth judgment unto victory.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Vers. 24-30. (See explanation under verses 3.8-43.)
3 1 Another parable set he forth be¬
fore them, saying. The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a grain of mustard
seed, which a man took and sowed in his
field: 3 2 which indeed is less than all
seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater
than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so
that the birds of heaven come and lodge
in the branches thereof.
Vers. 31,32. The Kingdom of Heaven Like unto a Mustard Seed.
Ver. 3 2. “less than all seeds ',—This is not to be pressed in its
literal sense, the mustard seed being a well-known Jewish type for any¬
thing exceedingly small.
It is quite natural to interpret this parable in harmony with the min
gling of good and evil as set forth by the previous ones. Thus Morgan
says, “A tree, in Scripture, is always the figure of power. Our Lord simply
teaches that Christendom shall become a great power and force—nothing
more. I suggest for your consideration that the fowls of the air are
emblems of evil and not of good; and that their lodging in the branches
of the tree teaches the corruption of even Christendom itself.”
Most pre-millennial scholars agree in general with this interpretation,
and we are not prepared to say that such an explanation is not in accord
with the general teaching of Christ concerning the kingdom.
Assuredly, however, there is an aspect of the kingdom which por¬
trays the growth of Christianity from small beginnings, and it would seem
to be far more natural for any mind not warped by doctrinal prejudice to
think of this parable as representing the insignificant beginning of the
kingdom and then its increase and growth and progress while the nations
of the earth are drawn into it, whether we think of these nations as mere
external adherents, mere nominal Christian nations, or as representing
those who are sincerely coming into the kingdom. The fact is it would
be better not to press either of these views concerning the “birds of heaven ”
too far. The idea of growth as represented by a tree is the central teaching
of the parable, and the birds lodging in the branches quite naturally
belong to the picture, without attaching to themselves any particular
significance as a part of the parable. Any picture, as a whole, may stand
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MATTHEW
for a truth, without calling for a definite significance of every detail. The
parable represents, says Erdman, Alford, and other ardent pre-millen-
narians, “the small beginnings and wide extension of the message of the
kingdom and of its effects”.
3 3 Another parable spake He unto hid in 'three measures of meal, till it
them; the kingdom of heaven is like was all leavened,
unto leaven, which a woman took, and 'A little more than a bu.hel
Ver. 33. The Kingdom of Heaven Like unto Leaven.
“like unto leaven ’,—Because leaven, in the Scriptures, usually repre¬
sents an evil influence (Ex. 12.13; I Cor. 3.6,7; Matt. 16.6; Gal. 5.9),
many take it thus here and explain it of the progress of the corruption and
deterioration in the outward visible Church. (Gab. Mor. Sco. Bla. and
most pre-millennial scholars.)
But there are strong arguments, as set forth by Lange, against so
taking it.
1. It is contrary to the rules of hermenutics to treat an allegorical
figure like a dogmatic statement. Thus a lion is used as a figure
of Satan but also as a figure of Christ.
2. All the other parables in this section, and especially the preceding
one, bear upon the development of the kingdom of heaven, and
so this parable would be quite out of place if taken otherwise.
3. It is impossible to conceive of the kingdom of heaven as leavened
by evil and thus hopelessly destroyed.
(We might also remark that the passage does not say that the
kingdom is like unto three measures of meal with which the leaven
becomes mixed up, but it says the kingdom is like unto leaven , and
says Alford, a pre-millennarian, “How are we to explain that it is
said that the kingdom of heaven is like this leaven, and if it is like
it in the sense of corruption, then there is an end of all the bless¬
ings and healing influence of the Gospel?”
4. Leaven may indeed be employed as a figure of sin and evil in the
sense of being stronger than the individual Christian when left in
his own strength to combat with error, but not in that of being
more powerful than the kingdom of heaven itself.
5. Leaven as such is nowhere in the Bible a figure of evil, but a
neutral figure of an all-pervading, contagious power. (See Leviti¬
cus 23.17, where it says, " They shall be baken with leaven; they
are the first fruits unto the Lord.”)
We find therefore on the other hand that many take the leaven here
not as an evil principle but as a gracious influence. Thus Alford, Lange,
Trench, Stier, Meyer, Olshausen and Godet among pre-millennialists, as
well as all post-millennialists.
Trench says that because leaven was as a rule used in an evil sense,
^hrist was not therefore the less free to use it in a good sense, while Stier
says that the growth of the kingdom like a mustard seed doubtless brought
-o the mind of Jesus the thought of the corrupting influences that would
:reep into the Church like an evil leaven, and having this in mind, He
purposely placed in opposition to it His good leaven, the kingdom of
317
MATTHEW
heaven. The kingdom of heaven is thus seen to be the good leaven pene¬
trating by degrees the whole mass of humanity, as seen in the general
world improvement.
Trench, followed by Meyer, limits the parable to an individual refer¬
ence as indicating the regenerating and transforming of the soul. Meyer
is worth quoting here, although the limitation mentioned is hardly a per¬
missible one. He says, "The parable of the mustard seed is designed to
show that the great community, consisting of those who are to participate
in the Messianic kingdom, i. e., the true people of God as constituting the
body politic of the future kingdom, is destined to develop from a small
beginning. The parable of the leaven on the other hand is intended to
show how the specific influence of the Messiah’s kingdom gradually pene¬
trates the whole of its future subjects until by this means the entire man is
brought intensively into that spiritual condition which qualifies it for
being admitted into the kingdom."
"until the whole be leavened", —This of course is never true of the
entire dough of humanity, for what then would be made of the tares and
the separation at the end? Just to what degree it is true individually and
personally of the elect is also a question, even though one limit the parable
to its individual reference.
No allegorical explanation of the " three measures" is to be sought,
and those advanced are far-fetched and unwarranted. It was the amount
usually taken for a batch.
Vers. 37-43. (See Vers. 24-30.)
3 7 And he answered and said. He that
soweth the good seed is the Son of
man; 3 8 and the field is the world; and
the good seed, these are the sons of the
kingdom; and the tares are the sons of
the evil one; 3 9 and the enemy that
sowed them is the devil; and the har¬
vest is 'the end of the world; and the
reapers are angels. 40 As therefore the
tares are gathered up and burned with
'Or, the consummation of the age
fire; so shall it be in 'the end of the
world. 41 The Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that cause
stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
4 2 and shall cast them into the furnace
of fire: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. 4 3 Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He that hath
ears, let him hear.
Vers. 37-43. Thf. Kingdom and the Tares.
Ver. 38. "sons of the kingdom", —Not by the old covenant as in
Chap. 8.12, but by the effectual grace of adoption.
"sons of the evil one", —Their ethical nature being derived from the
Devil.
"the field is the world", —Stier says, and rightly, that Christ could
not have possibly said anything else here than " world", and that all who
without reason substitute "Church" lose thereby a highly important
ground feature of the parable.
Others think of the world here as the Church, i. e., the visible Church,
nominal Christendom seeking to pervade and occupy the whole world.
(R. A. M. O. Tr.) The sense, however, in the ultimate is practically
the same. The kingdom of heaven began with Christ’s incarnation, the
good seed being sowed by the Gospel.
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MATTHEW
Ver. 39. "the end of the age ",—The reference is to the end of the
dispensation or period of time in which we are now living. This expres¬
sion is not found in any other Gospel. The Jews said in substance,
"When the Messiah comes, this age will end." Christ and His Disciples
took this phrase of the Jews and referred it to the second coming of the
Messiah which is to introduce the Messianic judgment. (M. L. O. R. A.)
" the reapers are angels", —This is not a figure of speech any more
than the Devil is a figure of speech. (See Chap. 24.31.)
On the words, "let both grow together", in verse 30, Trench says,
"Pregnant words, which tell us that evil is not, as so many dream, gradu¬
ally to wane and disappear before good; the world is to find itself in the
Church, but each is to unfold itself more fully out of its own root, after
its own kind." There is to be the intermixture of good and evil until the
end of time.
Ver. 41. "gather out of His kingdom", —Meyer says this judg¬
ment is to take place as soon as the earth has undergone that process of
regeneration which is to transform it into the scene of the Messiah’s king¬
dom. The words "gather out" , says Lange, "clearly show that the end of
the age must be regarded as a period of time, an interval of time, and
hence indicates that there is a period intervening between the Second Com¬
ing of Christ and the first resurrection connected with it, and the last
resurrection."
"things that cause stumbling", —Men who by their unbelief and sin
put temptation in the way of others.
"furnace of fire", —Gehenna, hell. (Chap. 25.41; Rev. 20.15.)
Ver. 43. "shine forth", —This conveys the idea of a sublime dis¬
play of majestic splendor like the glory of Christ at the transfiguration.
They shall shine forth "like the sun" when the clouds have rolled away.
(Dan. 13.3.)
"who hath ears" ,—The conclusion is in keeping with the importance
of the parable. It behooves men to heed a prophecy respecting the destiny
of all men.
44 The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a treasure hidden in the field; which
a man found and hid; and 'in his joy
he goeth and selieth all that he hath,
and buyeth the field.
'Or, for joy thereof
Ver. 44. THE KINGDOM LIKE A TREASURE HlD IN A FIELD.
The kingdom of heaven can become ours only on condition that we
are prepared joyfully to surrender for its sake every other earthly treasure.
The field is the outward visible Church, and this man, says Alford, with¬
out any earnest seeking unexpectedly finds in some part of it the treasure
of true faith and hope.
45 Again the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a man that is a merchant seek¬
ing goodly pearls; 46 and having found
one pearl of great price, he went and
sold all that he had, and bought it.
Vers. 45,46. The Kingdom Like a Man Seeking Pearls.
This is a parable not merely of a finder but of a seeker, a seeker after
truth. The Pearl of Great Price is Christ Himself.
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MATTHEW
“one", —There is only one such pearl.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a 'net, that was cast into the
sea, and gathered of every kind: 48
which, when it was filled, they drew up
on the beach; and they sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but the
'Gr. drag-net
bad they cast away. 49 So shall it be
in "the end of the world: the angels shall
come forth, and sever the wicked from
among the righteous, 50 and shall cast
them into the furnace of fire: there shall
be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
J Or, the consummation oj the age
Vers. 47-50. The Kingdom Like a Drag-net.
The ultimate separation of the holy and the unholy in the Church.
The net is the Church, the outward visible Church, gathering from
the sea of nations. The parable teaches the development side by side of
good and evil in this Church and the world.
“they sat doivn", —Intimating perhaps that some time is to be taken
in the work of separation.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
2 7 For the Son of man shall come in
the glory of his Father with his angels;
and then shall he render unto every man
according to his 'deeds. 28 Verily, I
'Gr. doing
Vers. 27,28.
say unto you. There are some of them
that stand here, who shall in no wise
taste of death, till they see the Son of
man coming in his kingdom.
The Coming of the Lord in the Destruction of
Jerusalem.
Ver. 27. Christ at His Second Coming is to appear as Judge and
His attendants shall be His angels.
“shall come" g —This is not a simple future, and Lange is inclined to
see in it the meaning that the event is impending, i. e.. He shall come—is
about to come.
“in the glory of his Father", —The same glory as that which belongs
to God and which He now shares with God.
“deeds", —The total outward manifestation of his inner life as a
believer or an unbeliever.
Ver. 28. Olshausen says, “This saying, which the first three evange¬
lists have with such unanimity preserved in the same connection, was one
of the strongest supports of the Apostolic age that there would be a speedy
and visible return of Christ."
“some of them that stand here ",—The Disciples and the people
standing about Him. (Mark 8.34.) This much we must accept as cer¬
tain, namely that it presupposes that the majority of them will have died
previous to the event in question.
“coming in his kingdom ",—
1. Many commentators refer this to the following transfiguration.
(Be. Va. Fa. Chr. Ken.)
But,
(a) “some not tasting death" implies a distant event, at least
one more distant than six days.
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MATTHEW
(b) The evangelist could not have applied this expression to
such an exceptional and transitory incident.
(c) The transfiguration could not, save in the sense of a fore¬
taste, be called a coming in His kingdom.
2. Lange refers it to His resurrection, to the coming in the glory of
His kingdom within the circle of the Disciples, which took place
when He arose from the dead and revealed Himself in their midst;
the moment being close at hand when their hearts were to be set
at rest by such manifestation of His glory.
But the first objection (a) to the view above applies equally
here.
3. Godet refers the expression to a spiritual coming of Christ, to an
inner experience of the soul in accordance with the inward nature
of the kingdom itself (the kingdom of God is within you) ; in
order to enjoy this sight a new sense, a new birth, is needed, which
some of them standing there should receive with the coming of
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when they were to behold with their
inward eye those wonderful works of God which Jesus calls His
kingdom, or the kingdom of God.
But the objection just recorded obtains here. It is further¬
more an altogether too easy method of resolving a difficulty.
4. Many other authorities refer the expression to the progress and
conquests of the Gospel, especially between Pentecost and the
Destruction of Jerusalem. (Al. Fa. Whe. Dor. Era. Klo. Schen.)
But there is the same fatal objection to this view, as without
doubt practically all of them saw at least the beginning of
such a fulfillment.
5. Barnes interprets the passage spiritually and refers it to the day of
Pentecost and the founding of the Church. But,
(a) The same common objection applies equally to this view.
(b) Jesus and the Holy Spirit are two distinct persons. Jesus
said, "I will send you another Comforter", and if the Holy
Spirit be “another” Comforter, He cannot then be Christ
Himself, and it is therefore inconsistent to confound this
event with the coming of the Son of man.
(c) Furthermore, it will not do to identify the Church with the
Kingdom. The Church is to suffer and to reign with Christ
in His Kingdom. (Rom. 8.17.)
6. Wordsworth substitutes, "shall not taste of the bitterness of
death”, i. e., shall not taste of the death of the soul until, etc.,
much less shall they after He comes!
But this is an interpretation altogether too fanciful. Black-
stone says the words may have this significance, as in the
sense of John 8.51 and Hebrews 2.9, but he merely suggests
this explanation, and is quite convinced that the word “till”
more than intimates that some of them standing there should
taste death, and that therefore natural death or the separation
of soul and body was meant.
7. Meyer and Olshausen refer it to His ultimate glorious Parousia.
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MATTHEW
They say the kingdom cannot come without the King, and that
the coming of this verse and the one just before it are one and the
same, the former verse emphasizing the certainty of the Second
Coming and the latter one the nearness of it.
But—
(a) This coming can hardly be the same as that mentioned in the
preceding verse because there He comes in the glory of His
Father, while here He comes in His kingdom.
(b) How could Christ, not knowing the time of H : s Parousia
Himself (Mark 13.32) utter such a determinate prophecy
of it?
(c) Christ could not have labored under such a misapprehension.
Olshausen says Christ thought His personal return was really
so near at hand. But this is equivalent to saying the Lord
was mistaken.
(d) Stier says, "not tasting death until He comes” implies that
they will taste it after He comes, and that therefore this
cannot refer to His final Parousia.
8. Blackstone maintains that it is at Christ’s coming in His king¬
dom that He is to be manifested in His glory, and that the expres¬
sion here means His coming in the Parousia at the end of this age,
even as do Meyer and Olshausen, but, in a manner hardly con¬
sistent with sound interpretation, he refers the prophecy of this
passage to the visions given to the three Disciples on the Mount of
Transfiguration, to Paul when caught up into the third heaven,
and to John when in Patmos, as set forth in the Book of Revela¬
tion. But apart from the fact that the nearness of the Trans¬
figuration is, as we have already so often stated, fatal to this part
of the explanation, it will not do to deprive in this way the thing
prophesied of its actuality and to fill up its meaning with a vision.
Whatever they were to see must have been in some sense a real
coming of Christ in His kingdom, and not merely a vision of it.
9. Still others refer the expression to the Destruction of Jerusalem
(Chap. 10.23) as a type and an earnest of the final Second
Coming of Christ. (A. E. R. S. Ow. Oo. Eb. BI. Gro. Wet. Cap.
Kui. Glo. Schot.) With this view we are inclined to agree. It
has against it none of the objections enumerated and Chap. 23
seems to support it.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
27 Then answered Peter and said un¬
to him, Lo, we have left all, and fol¬
lowed thee: what then shall we have?
28 And Jesus said unto them. Verily I
say unto you, that ye who have fol¬
lowed me, in the regeneration when the
Son of man shall sit on the throne of
his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
Vers. 27,28. The Disciples to Judge Israel at the Lord’s Return.
Ver. 27. A question doubtless prompted by the words, "shalt have
treasure in heaven ” spoken to the rich young man.
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MATTHEW
"what shall we have therefore?” —This is a question of reward.
Not "What therefore will there be for us still to do?" (Pau.) ; nor "What
is waiting for us? Are we, too, to be called upon to undergo such a test as
the young man has just been subjected to?" (O.)
Ver. 28. “in the regeneration”, —Some (Aug. Eut. Fri. Theo.)
interpret this expression of the Resurrection; but this sense is too restricted
and is besides contrary to regular New Testament usage.
Hilary, Hammond and others apply the expression to the first regen¬
eration, and, connecting it with " followed me”, render, "Ye who have
followed me in the regeneration, or as regenerated persons". Similar to
this is the view which takes the words as referring to the state of things
on earth after Christ’s resurrection, when He had sat down, after His ascen¬
sion, upon His throne. (C. Bl. Li. Gro. Whe.) But the Disciples could
only have conceived of the renovation of the world as something taking
place contemporaneously with the actual setting up of the kingdom at the
return of the Lord. Others accordingly and rightly take them as signify¬
ing the change by which the whole world is to be restored to that original
state of perfection in which it existed before the fall and which is to be
brought about by the coming of the Messiah, at which time it seems, in
the minds of the Disciples, there would take place the setting up of His
kingdom. (M. D.) Lange combines the last two views.
"judging the twelve tribes of Israel”, —There are two views of this
passage:
1. The symbolical view, i. e., that the expression applies to the
spiritual administration and rule of the Disciples in subordination
to the will of the Master. Lange says that it is a figurative repre¬
sentation of Christ’s presence and power in the infant Church,
laying down rules and sitting in judgment through His vice-
regents, the Disciples. The Disciples appear here therefore in
the ideal rather than in their individual capacity, and that there¬
fore the twelve tribes of Israel must be taken in a symbolical sense
as applying to the whole body of believers. (L. D. C. Bl. Gro.
Whe.)
But against the symbolical view the following good reasons
obtain:
(a) The period after Christ's resurrection was not the time of
their reward but of trial and persecution.
(b) It does not furnish a pertinent reply to Peter’s question,
fc) Godet says that in the parallel passage in Luke 22.30, the
expression. ”eat and drink at my table”, almost compels one
to go further than the spiritual or symbolical interpretation,
and interpret ”in my kingdom” as in Luke 22.16,18, and
so it would seem that the reference is to a kingdom He was
to establish in the future.
(d) Meyer says that the Disciples could only conceive of the
renovation of the world contemporary with the setting up of
the Messianic kingdom.
2. The literal view, which attaches to the word " judging " its usual
literal significance. It must at least have so appeared to the minds
of the Disciples. (M. O. G. PI, Ow. Carr.)
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MATTHEW
Ellicott well says, “Whatever approximations to a literal fulfillment
there may be in the far-off future lies behind the veil." That is, we do
not know exactly what is the nature of this function, but the arguments
all seem to strongly favor the literal view of the same. Judging, it would
seem in the minds of the Disciples, would refer not alone to judging every
man according to his works, as assessors of the divine King; but judging
in the old sense of the word as well, i. e., redressing wrongs, ruling, gov¬
erning.
Owen would have us think of a mere “concurring’' in the sentence
of the Judge.
Ellicott says, “The words receive at least an adequate fulfillment if
we see in them the promise that in the last triumphant stage of the redeem¬
ing work the Apostles should still be recognized and held in honor as
guiding the faith and conduct of their countrymen. So I Cor. 6.2 refers
in like manner not solely nor chiefly to any share which the Disciples shall
have in the actual work of the final judgment, but to the assured triumph
of the faith, the laws, the principles of action of which they were then the
persecuted witnesses.”
Meyer, advocating the literal view, says, “Believers generally are to
share in the future glory and reign of Christ (Rom. 8.17; II Tim. 2.12)
and to have part in judging the non-Christian world (I Cor. 6.2), but
to the Disciples the special prerogative is here accorded of having part in
the judgment of the Jewish people, it being evident from I Cor. 6.2 that
the Jewish people will then still form part of the unconverted world.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
21 She saith unto him. Command
that these my two sons may sit, one
on thy right hand, and one on thy left
hand, in thy kingdom.
Ver. 21. The Kingdom Misinterpreted.
This request seems to have arisen from the promise given in Chap.
19.28, and this mother was doubtless one of those who thought that the
kingdom was immediately to appear. (Matt. 27.56; Mark 15.40; Luke
19.11.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
43 Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken away
from you, and shall be given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And he that falleth on this stone
shall be broken to pieces; but on whom
soever it shall fall, it will scatter him
as dust.
Vers. 43,44. The Rejection of the Jewish Nation.
Ver. 43. Returning to the parable, our Lord announces more plainly
than ever to them their rejection by God.
"a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof ",—The reference is no
doubt, as Alford says, to the holy nation, the peculiar people of God, the
Church of the truly faithful. (1 Pet. 2.9 and Acts 15.14.) It is quite
324
MATTHEW
true, as Whedon says, that our Lord here predicts again the fall of the Jews
and the call of the Gentiles, but as Meyer, Olshausen and Fausset say, the
community of believers referred to consists not of the Gentiles in par¬
ticular (Eu. VoL Keim.), but of the whole of the future subjects of the
kingdom, conceived of as one people, consisting chiefly of Gentiles of
course until "all Israel should be saved".
Gaebelein objects to the view just stated by saying that the Church is
called "the body of Christ", "the Bride of Christ", "the habitation of Go d
by the Spirit", "the Lamb's wife", but never a nation. He therefore refers
the expression to the believing remnant of the Jews, but there is hardly
sufficient argument in support of his objections and of his view.
Ver. 44. There is no doubt here a reference to the second chapter
of Daniel. The idea is, Whoever falls on Christ, i. e., stumbles over Him
as a "rock of offense" (I Pet. 2.8; Isa. 8.14,15) in the days of His humilia¬
tion shall be broken, i. e., shall have great sorrow; but to incur His wrath,
to have Him fall on them at His Second Coming to judgment means utter
destruction.
"scatter him as dust", —Literally, "shall winnow him", suggested by
Dan. 2.35 where the image broken to pieces became as the chaff of the
threshing floor. The idea is that of being thrown off like chaff from
the winnowing fan.
Ellicott, Whedon and others, who refer both parts of the expression
to the present dispensation which began with the first coming of Christ,
say the second part of the verse refers to Christ, or the Church with which
He identifies Himself, coming into collision with the powers that oppose
Him, when it shall grind them to pieces and scatter them like dust.
While the reference is a general one, Gaebelein says with propriety that
the first part of the verse refers to the Jews and the second part to the
Gentiles. The first part has been fulfilled and the second part will be
when at His coming He falls on the world-powers, the Gentile govern¬
ments, and grinds them to powder.
Godet, who seems to agree with Gaebelein, says, "It is dangerous to
encounter this stone whether by dashing against it while yet it is laid on
the ground, as Israel is doing, or whether when it shall be raised to the
top of the building, men provoke it to fall on their own heads as other
nations shall one day do."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
3 9 For I say unto you, Ye shall not
see me henceforth, till ye shall say.
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord.
Ver. 39. Thf. Glad Welcome of Our Lord at His Second Coming.
You shall not see me henceforth until that day, the subject of all
prophecy, when the repentant Jewish nation shall turn with true and
loyal Hosannahs and blessing to greet Him whom they have pierced.
(Deut. 4.30,31; Isa. 66.20; Hos. 3.4,5; Zech. 12.10; 14.8-11.)
"he that cometh", —Not in the destruction of Jerusalem (Wet.),
because Christ was not then hailed as here predicted; but that Second
325
MATTHEW
Coming when He shall appear in the glory of the Messiah. (M. E. A. G.
S. B. L. Au. Oo. Ew. Hof. Whe. Theo. Sche.) It is a mistake therefore
to take the verse as the conversion of Israel in her development down to
the Second Coming.
Ellicott says, "There can be little doubt that our Lord points to the
Second Advent and to the welcome that will then be given Him by all
the true Israel of God. For the generation of His day and for the outward
Israel as such the abandonment was final."
Owen, who will not think of a visible, bodily return of Christ, says,
"Prophecy discloses to us the fact that the Jewish nation as such will
eventually acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. He will then come, not in
bodily form, but in the Spirit to sit upon the throne of His father, David,
and then shall be uttered this 'blessed
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
1 And Jesus went out from the tem¬
ple, and was going on His way; and
his disciples came to him to show him
the buildings of the temple. 2 But he
answered and said unto them. See ye
not all these things? verily I say unto
you. There shall not be left here one
stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down. 3 And as he sat on the
mount of Olives, the disciples came unto
him privately, saying, Tell us, when
shall these things be? and what shall be
the sign of thy doming, and of ''the end
of the world? 4 And Jesus answered,
and said unto them, Take heed that no
man lead you astray. 5 For many shall
come in my name, saying. I am the
Christ; and shall lead many astray. 6
And ye shall hear of wars and rumors
of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for
these things must needs come to pass,
’Gr. -presence
*Or, the consummation of the age
but the end is not yet. 7 For nation
shall arise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom; and there shall be
famines and earthquakes in divers places.
8 But all these things are the beginning
of travail. 9 Then shall they deliver
you up unto tribulation, and shall kilt
you: and ye shall be hated of all the
nations for my name’s sake. 10 And
then shall many stumble, and shall ’de¬
liver up one another, and shall hate
one another. 11 And many false
prophets shall arise, and shall lead many
astray. 12 And because iniquity shall
be multiplied, the love of the many
shall wax cold. 13 But he that endur-
eth to the end. the same shall be saved.
14 And ‘this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in the whole ’world
for a testimony unto all the nations:
and then shall the end come.
3 See ch. 10.4.
4 Or, these good tidings
s Gr. inhabited earth
Vers. 1-14. The Course of This Present Age.
It is difficult to exegete this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and
the parallel chapters in Mark and Luke intelligently without knowing
whether the various parts refer to the Destruction of Jerusalem or to the
Parousia. Some say that this chapter refers exclusively to the invisible
return of Christ at the Destruction of Jerusalem; but verses 29-31 contra¬
dict this.
Godet says, "Matthew combines in the answer of Jesus the two sub¬
jects indicated in the question as Matthew has expressed it, and he unites
them in so intimate a way that all attempts to separate them in the text
from Chrysostom to Ebrard and Meyer have broken down."
It must be remembered that we have here only a partial report of the
discourse of Jesus, and even when taken with the account in Mark and
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MATTHEW
Luke, it is quite probable that only a fraction of all that Jesus said has
been preserved for us.
Prof. Erdman, too, thinks with Godet that the Lord is describing
not one event, but two, “prophesying", as Erdman says, “the literal over¬
throw of the holy city by the armies of Rome, but using the colors of this
tragic scene to paint the picture of His own coming in glory."
The question of the Disciples in Mark and Luke refers presumably
only to the Destruction of Jerusalem, and so, presumably, the answer of
Jesus as well.
Alford says the events in this chapter run parallel;
Verses 4 to 28 describe the Destruction of Jerusalem primarily and
the Parousia secondarily.
Verses 29 to 44 describe the Parousia primarily and the Destruction
of Jerusalem secondarily.
Verses 45 to 5 1 describe the Parousia alone.
Ebrard gives us much the same division except that he ascribes verses
4 to 14 to the Parousia.
Owen refers verses 4 to 44 to the Destruction of Jerusalem and with
Alford and Ebrard refers verses 44 to 51 to the Parousia.
Others again refer the first 14 verses to the Destruction of Jerusalem
and verses 1 5 on to the Parousia.
Gaebelein and his school, on the other hand, refer the entire chapter
to the Parousia and contend that no reference is to be had to the Destruction
of Jerusalem in this part of the Lord's discourse, this being set forth wholly
by Luke in his Gospel.
The first section of the discourse, the one with which we are now
concerned, ends with verse 44, and we have accordingly four different ways
of viewing the content of this remarkable passage:
(a) Those who think it was all fulfilled in the past at the time of
the Destruction of Jerusalem.
(b) Those who think it is all to be yet fulfilled during the time of
the great tribulation just before the coming of the Lord in glory and in
judgment on the antichristian forces of the world after the Church has
been caught up according to the fourth chapter of I Thessalonians.
(c) Those who think it is being fulfilled in this present dispensation
and is to find its final and more awful fulfillment in the great tribulation
through which the Church herself will pass in the time of the end.
(d) Those who see part fulfillment in the Destruction of Jerusalem
and the other part in the Parousia which is still in the future.
We shall endeavor to deal fairly with all these views, carrying them
along side by side, that the student may the more easily resolve the situa¬
tion, if indeed it can be done with unquestioning satisfaction.
Some say that Jesus thought of the Destruction of Jerusalem and His
Second Coming as at the same time, but,
1. This denies His infallibility.
2. It is a contradiction of His own words in Mark 13.32.
3. Luke 21.24 proves conclusively that He did not so think, nor
think of His Second Coming as so near at hand.
327
MATTHEW
Ver. 1. In pointing out the magnificence of the temple they doubt¬
less had in mind the reference made to it by Christ in Chap. 23.38.
“his disciples”, —Luke says " some”, while Mark says, '‘one of his
disciples”, probably Peter.
Ver. 2. "See ye not”, etc., —This sentence in Luke is an affirmation,
but whether it be taken as an affirmation or a question the sense is the
same, serving to call attention to the prophetic doom awaiting the city.
Ver. 3. "the disciples”, —From Mark we learn that it was Peter,
James, John and Andrew.
There are only two questions here; they wanted to know when the
destruction foretold would take place, and then they wanted to know the
sign of two things, namely, His coming and the end of the world, which
two things in their minds were to occur at the same time. (Gab.)
"the sign of thy coming”, —The word here is "Parousia” (presence)
and is the ordinary expression for the Coming of the Lord.
Whedon says, "the word 'Parousia never in the whole New Testa¬
ment signifies anything else than a bodily presence, and the Destruction
of Jerusalem is never implied by this term.”
Olshausen says this Parousia is synonomous with "appearing’'
(I Tim. 4.14) and "his revelation” (I Cor. 1.7).
Olshausen further maintains that as the Old Testament prophets
made no distinction between Christ's coming in humiliation and His com¬
ing in glory, i. e.. His first and second coming; so the Gospel makes no
distinction between His coming in glory at the end of the age and the
end of the world, supposing as they did that both would take place at
the same time. So also Meyer says, “In the Gospels we find no trace of
the Millennium idea of the Apocalypse."
"the end of the world ”,—Literally, "the end of the age”, which in
their minds were the same. It means, as Alexander says, “When will this
existing state of things, this system of dispensation be completed, wound
up or brought to a conclusion."
Alford says, “Christ gave them enough to guide them from error in
supposing the Second Coming to be near at hand and at the same time from
carelessness in not expecting it as near."
Meyer says, this age is to have a stormy and a wicked end during
the time called in I Peter 1.5, " the last time”, and in Acts 2.1 7 and II Tim.
3.1, "the last days”. He warns us, however, against confounding these
designations with the expression, "the last day” of John 6.39 and 11.24.
at which time, he says, the advent, the resurrection and the judgment are
to take place.
Ver. 4. According to a large number of authorities verses 4 to 14
record the answer of Jesus as it relates, primarily at least, to the Destruction
of Jerusalem. (A. O. E. B. G. Ow. Ca. Hof. Whe. Ros. Gro. Krebs.)
This is quite the natural view inasmuch as the first question of the
Disciples relates to this event, and besides in Luke the only question asked
concerned the Destruction of Jerusalem and in answering it Jesus made
use practically of the very same language as that found here in Matthew.
Gaebelein, on the other hand, says this part of the discourse is a pre
diction of how the Jewish age will end, the age following the Rapture ol
328
MATTHEW
the Church, the age which therefore has not ended but which has been
“interrupted" by this present dispensation, " until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled", the end of the age referring to the seventieth week of Daniel,
and verses 4 to 14 referring to the first three and one-half years of that
period. This author calls attention to the fact that there is not a word
in this discourse about Jerusalem or the Destruction of the temple: that
this is reserved for Luke; that Luke says that after the siege the Jews were
led away captive and Jerusalem was trodden down, whereas in Matthew,
instead of a scattering of the elect people, we have a gathering of them
(verse 31), the word “elect" referring to literal Israel. But this is hardly
fair, because this passage about the elect may be and is referred to the
Parousia even by the majority of those who take the former portion of the
chapter as referring to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
There is, however, no strong reason why the passage may not be
taken here, as it may also in Luke, as a brief summary of the course of this
present age (L. Er. Sco.), and there are some statements in the passage that
can be thus resolved with less difficulty than otherwise. We shall there¬
fore so explain it here, carrying along with the explanation, however,
such reference as incline others to apply the passage to the Destruction of
Jerusalem, or even yet to the time after the Rapture of the Church, as some
contend.
Ver. 5. "in my name" ,—Not in the name or authority of Jesus,
but claiming the title of Jesus, claiming to be the Messiah, the Christ
Himself.
"I am Christ", —History records no such pretenders before the De¬
struction of Jerusalem, although doubtless there may have been. Bar-
cochba did not appear until after the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Simon
Magus, Theudas, Meander and Dositheus, who have been referred to as
cases in point by those referring the passage to that event, did not pretend
to be the Christ.
Olshausen admits that the fact no such false Messiahs are recorded
prior to the Destruction of Jerusalem indicates that the whole prophecy
was not fulfilled at that time, but points further on to the coming of the
Lord at the end of the age.
Gaebelein says that the false Christs of other days and of today are but
faint shadows of what will take place in the end time soon to come.
Ver. 6. "wars and rumors of wars", —Not perhaps as Meyer says,
"Wars in the neighborhood and wars in the distance of which only the
rumors are heard”, but rather the rumors of wars are the conflicting, exag¬
gerated and frightful rumors which precede the approach of war and which
cause so much panic.
_ Lange says that all wars are meant down to the Parousia, while
De Wette, Meyer, and others say that history records no such wars prior
to the Destruction of Jerusalem. Alford, on the other hand, makes men¬
tion of these wars as well as divers earthquakes and famines.
"these things must come to pass", —In pursuance of the divine pur¬
pose. The words are calculated to inspire a calm and reasonable frame of
mind.
329
MATTHEW
"but the end is not yet", —The "end" referred to is doubtless "the
end of the age" mentioned in verse 3 (L. D. Ow. Bl. Eb. Au. Cre. Hoe.
Chr. Ges.), although others refer it to the end of the tribulation before
the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Ver. 7. De Wette says that no particular instances can be enumer¬
ated, but Lange on the other hand, who contends that the passage com¬
bines in one view the whole period down to the end, says, “These insur¬
rections, famines, earthquakes and other plagues which are here adduced
were before the Destruction of Jerusalem by no means so insignificant as
for instance De Wette asserts.”
Godet says, “The time which preceded the Destruction of Jerusalem
was signalized in the east by many calamities, a dreadful famine which took
place under Claudius, and by the earthquake which destroyed Laodicca
and other cities in A. D. 68. At Caesarea 20,000 Jews were massacred in,
a fight with the Gentiles, and 30,000 died in Rome of a pestilence.”
Tacitus gives us a narrative full of earthquakes, wars and crimes, and
describes the period as one “rich in calamities, horrible with battles, rent
with seditions, and even savage in peace itself.”
This passage could therefore be made to refer to the Destruction of
Jerusalem as well as to this present age or the times at the end of this age.
Gaebelein says the "pestilences and earthquakes" of our times are but
harbingers of the far greater ones during the actual "end of the age" still
to come.
Ver. 8. "the beginnings of travail ",—They stand in relation to
what is to follow as the beginnings of the birth-pangs do to the much
severer pains which follow.
Ver. 9. "Then ",—Not after the things of verses 6 and 7 have
taken place, but during that time. (L. A. M.)
In Luke it says, "before all these things", —This seems to present a
contradiction which Godet escapes by taking the word "before" not in
the sense of time but in the sense of importance, i. e., above all things els.*.
Meyer, however, says the word "before" can only be taken in the sense of
“previous to”, and certainly this is its more natural meaning. There is
no contradiction between the account of Luke and that of Matthew and
Mark, and in order to see this we need not take the preposition in any
other than its natural sense, “before—previous to”. Matthew says "then",
and this seems to imply, as does the narrative in Mark, that the persecu¬
tions would follow the signs, but in verse 6 of Matthew we are told
what shall take place before the end comes and this verse corresponds
to verses 8 and 9 in Luke. Then verses 7 and 8 in Matthew correspond
to verses 10 and 1 1 in Luke, and these verses both in Matthew and Luke,
which tell of certain things which are "the beginnings of sorrow", are in
each case a parenthetical warning of what shall happen before the end.
Then having stated that "these things are the beginnings of sorrow", the
chronology is resumed in all three accounts, the "then" in Matthew going
back to verse 6 while in Luke the word "before" refers back to the same
time, the word itself meaning “before the things mentioned in the paren¬
thetical statement”. The whole difficulty arises from not rightly appre¬
ciating the force of the expression, “ the beginnings of sorrow".
330
MATTHEW
“hated of all nations ”,—They were slandered by Jewish enemies
and considered as atheists and devourers of children. Tacitus charged them
with being the enemies of the human race.
This verse may apply with equal fitness to either of the three times
under consideration. Gaebelein of course refers those “delivered up and
killed” to the martyrs of the Jewish remnant during the great tribulation
after the rapture of the Church as mentioned in Rev. 6.9-11.
“Certainly’', says Lange, “this must refer to religious persecutions of
modern times as well as to those of earlier times, the Disciples being in this
the representatives of all Christians."
Ver. 10. “Then ”,—As in verse 9.
“many” ,—Christians.
“stumble ”,—Renounce Christ and become apostate because of perse¬
cution, or, especially if the verse be applied to this age, because of new
phases of truth presented, or because of the delayed coming of the Lord,
the first reason being, however, the chief one.
“deliver up one another ”,—The apostates shall deliver up the Chris¬
tians, says Meyer, while Lange thinks of the persecutions inflicted by one
Christian sect upon another.
Ver. 11. “false prophets ”,—False teachers. They should not be
more precisely defined as to the nature of their prophecy or their particular
teaching.
Ver, 12. “the love of many shall wax cold ”,—Doubtless of the
majority.
Ver. 13. “he that endureth to the end ”,—The “end” here is not
death (Eb. Ow. El. Kui.), which the context forbids; but the end of the
period of which the Lord was speaking.
If the passage be referred to the Destruction of Jerusalem, then the
being “saved” will doubtless refer to escape through flight to Pella from the
doom of those involved in the destruction of the city. (E. Hof. Ros. Kre.)
If, on the other hand, it be referred to the end of the age, then the
deliverance is that which comes to the faithful who go through the Great
Tribulation before the coming of the Lord. (M L. Whe.)
Ver. 14. “this Gospel of the kingdom ”,—The Gospel which Christ
was then preaching, i. e., the Gospel of the Messianic, universal kingdom.
“in all the world ”,—Mark reads, “among all nations”; Alford and
Ellicott limit this to the Roman Empire, but it refers rather to the then
inhabited earth.
Olshausen says that this preaching is now going on and this verse
opposes the view that refers this part of the discourse to the Destruction of
Jerusalem alone, because such a proclamation of the Gospel he declares did
not take place before that event. Owen and others, on the other hand,
maintain the very opposite.
The fact is it is impossible for any one to say when this witness is
complete. (Er. Bla.) When the Gospel was preached at Pentecost there
were present “devout men out of every nation under heaven”. The Dis¬
ciples “went forth and preached everywhere” (Acts 8.4 and Mark 16.20).
331
MATTHEW
In Romans it says, “their words went unto the ends of the world” (same
word as in our text). Paul says in Col. 1.23 that the Gospel had already
been “preached to every creature which is under heaven”,
Again there are those who make a distinction between the Gospel of
grace to which we have just been referring, and the “Gospel of the king¬
dom’’ mentioned in our text, declaring that this latter is to be preached
not for the purpose of gathering the Church, but “for a witness to all
nations”, and that it is the Gospel mentioned in Rev. 14.6 as preached by
the Jewish remnant during the time of the great tribulation. (Sco. Gab.
Mack.)
But there is scarcely sufficient warrant for this limitation, nor is it
a necessary part of the general view of the Lord’s coming which the author¬
ities just quoted maintain.
“for a testimony ”,—
1. Owen says it was that the whole world might be acquainted
with the fact of the Jewish rejection of Christ by reason of which Jeru¬
salem was to be destroyed. But this is quite too limited.
2. Ancient expositors largely agree with Meyer in making it mean
for the conviction and condemnation of the Gentile nations. It does not,
however, say "against” the nations but “unto” them.
3. Whedon says it was in order that all might believe and be con¬
verted, but Dorner says, and we think rightly, that it was in order that all
might accept or reject the Gospel thus preached, resulting accordingly in
either life or death.
“then shall the end come”, —The “end” is unquestionably “the end
of the age” about which the Disciples asked in verse 3, and seemingly the
end of the troubles that are to precede the Messianic advent. Owen and
others of course apply it to the overthrow of Jerusalem. Others (L. Bl.
Eb. Whe. Dor. Hof. Cre.) say the reference here, as in verse 13, is to the
end of the world proper. It is not said in this verse that all shall be
converted.
15 When therefore ye see the abomi¬
nation of desolation, which was 'spoken
of through Daniel the prophet, standing
in 'the holy place (let him that readeth
understand), 16 then let them that are
in Judea flee unto the mountains: 17
let him that is on the housetop not go
down to take out the things that are
in his house; 18 and let him that is in
the field not return back to take his
cloak. 19 But woe unto them that are
•Han. 9.27; 11.31; 12.11.
"Or, a holy flat e
Vers. 15-22. The Great Tribulation.
This section is made to refer to the Destruction of Jerusalem by per¬
haps the great majority of commentators. (L. M. B. D. S. E. A. O. Bl. El.
Wi. Eb. Ev. Ow. Chr. Eut. Hug. Whe. Gro. Wet. Wie. Kui. Pau. Fri. Jer.
Wor. Theo. Nast, and most Fathers.) There are three principal reasons
why it is so taken by the authorities just mentioned:
with child and to them that give suck in
those days! 20 And pray ye that your
flight be not in the winter, neither on a
sabbath: 21 for then shall be great
tribulation, such as hath not been from
the beginning of the world until now,
no, nor ever shall be. 2 2 And except
those days had been shortened, no flesh
would have been saved: but for the
elect’s sake those days shall be short¬
ened.
312
MATTHEW
1. The same instruction about fleeing to the mountains are given in
Luke where the reference is without doubt to the Destruction of
Jerusalem and it is only natural to think of these words being
used in the same sense in the passage in Matthew. The destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem would then be a type of the final catastrophe,
and, says Olshausen, "whatever the abomination of desolation
was, it is a type of what is recorded in II Thess. 2.4, to which this
prophecy properly and finally refers". There is considerable force
in this argument.
2. It was to this, they say, that the question of the Disciples chiefly
referred and it is but natural to think that Christ is answering the
question proposed to Him. But it is by no means clear that this
was the principal question of the Disciples. It was this of course
that led to the questioning, but the latter question about the end
of the age was fully as prominent and important and a matter
about which the Disciples were far more concerned than they could
possibly be about the Destruction of Jerusalem. The reason
would have more force in it if it were true, as so many maintain,
that the three events mentioned in the third verse of this chapter
lay in the minds of the Disciples as occurring at one and the same
time.
But Luke 21.24 shows conclusively that Luke at least did not so
think of these events. We must so conclude or concede that the
last part of the verse is an interpolation, or that Luke wrote after
the Destruction of Jerusalem, neither of which opinions we are
inclined to think of as tenable. If then Luke did not conceive of
the three events as being simultaneous what right have we for
concluding that the other writers did?
There are, on the other hand, some arguments of considerable worth
igainst so taking the passage and in favor of referring it to the great tribu-
ation period just before the coming of the Lord:
1. The quotation from Daniel 12 says, “At that time thy people
shall be delivered”, and most assuredly they were not delivered in
the days of Titus when Jerusalem was destroyed—-they were
massacred by the millions and dispersed in every direction. It
must be true therefore that Daniel speaks of an end far later than
that of the Destruction of Jerusalem.
2. The difficult connection with the words of verse 29, " Immediately
after the tribulation of those days ", is altogether resolved by this
explanation.
Alford, who parallels the two events in his explanation, says, "This
itation from Daniel has in the Destruction of Jerusalem its immediate
ulfillment, but its final fulfillment is yet future; for Daniel is speaking of
he end of all things."
Ver. 15. “Therefore” ,—This is not to be taken, as Wiesler says, as
'resuming the thread broken by verse 3", but rather signifying a transition
o the announcement which follows, and so to be taken, with De Wette
nd Meyer, as meaning "therefore", i. e., in consequence of these sorrows
trhich are but the beginning of the greater calamity now about to be an-
lounced. It seems to connect what follows with that which went before
333
MATTHEW
as something following in natural sequence, and it would seem therefore
that if this section be referred to the Destruction of Jerusalem, so ought
the former one; and so too if this section be referred to the great tribulation,
then ought the former one be referred to the course of this present age down
to its close, or to the earlier part of the Great Tribulation itself, as Gaebe-
lein takes it,
“abomination of desolation ”,—
Among the views of those referring the passage to the Destruction of
Jerusalem are the following:
1. The statue of Titus or Hadrian erected on the sight of the deso¬
lated temple. (Chr. Eut. Theo., and most Fathers.) But this
was after the destruction of the temple; and furthermore it was
not in the temple.
2. The Roman army with its standards planted on the sacred soil
which surrounds the city (G.), an abomination because pagan and
a desolation because conquering and devastating (Whe.).
3. The internal desecration of the temple by the Jewish Zealots
under pretense of defending it. (A. E. S. Bl. El. Hug. Wet.
Nast.)
Alford says that the first two evangelists were writing as Jews to
the Jews, and therefore give the inner or domestic sign of the ap¬
proaching calamity which was to be seen in the temple and which
was to be the abomination which was to cause the desolation; but
that Luke, writing for the Gentiles, gives the outward state of
things corresponding to this inward sign, the inward sign being
the profanation of the temple by the Zealots and the outward sign
being the approach of the army under Cestius.
Olshausen says that neither the work of the Zealots nor the
Roman army can be the thing in mind for three reasons:
(a) Neither has a religious character, which character is indi¬
cated by the term “abomination” as used in connection with
the Holy Place.
(b) The term “holy place” must relate only to the temple and
cannot relate to the holy land nor to the land around the
temple.
(c) The word “standing” is incompatible with either of the two
explanations mentioned.
There is little if any force in the first objection of Olshausen, while*
the second certainly has no bearing on the inward sign, and the
third puts a construction on the word “standing” which ought
not to be unduly pressed.
4. Meyer says the expression refers to the “vile and loathesome abom¬
inations practiced by the conquering Romans on the place where
the temple stood,’’ while others (B. D. L. Gro.) refer it to the
“Roman eagles, as military ensigns, rising over the site of the-'
temple”.
There are those who oppose this view because the expression
refers to something that took place before the destruction of
the temple; nor will they permit it to refer to the besieging^
334
MATTHEW
legions of Cestius because it is said to be " standing” in the
holy place. But Luke's account, where the reference to the
Destruction of Jerusalem is unmistakable, says, “when ye see
Jerusalem encompassed with armies”.
The words simply say, “the abominable desolation in the holy
place”, and the safest interpretation is that which sees reference to the
doings of the heathen conquerors during and after the siege of the temple
(B. D. L. Eb. Gro. Wet. Wie.), although the reference to the Zealots in
the temple may reasonably be included.
“the holy place”, —This refers to the temple or the place of the tem¬
ple, and not to Palestine nor the neighborhood about Jerusalem (B. Wie.
Schot.), nor to the mount of Olives (Gro.), these- interpretations having
been adopted on the ground that it would be too late to flee after the
temple was taken.
Those who refer the passage to the time of the Parousia, with which
is connected the great tribulation, refer the expression to the Antichrist of
II Thess. 2.4. (Ew. Sco. Gab. Ori. Lud. Klo. Mack.) It is under his
rule that the great tribulation is to take place.
“let him that readeth understand”, —These are the words of Matthew
himself, intimating the near approach of the signs and warning his readers
To note the admonition to escape. (M. B. L. Ow. Whe.) This is by far
The most preferable explanation and is favored by Mark 13.14. It is not
Therefore to be considered as a marginal note by the copyist (A.), nor as
:he words of Jesus Himself, pointing to the reading in Daniel, “Know
:herefore and understand” . (E. S. Ba. Chr. Wor. Hen. Eut. Pau. Nast.)
.{ they were the words of Jesus would He not have used "heareth" instead
}f “readeth” ?
Ver. 16. “In Judea ”,—Not perhaps Judea in distinction from
Jerusalem (M. Whe.), but both Jerusalem and the contiguous places
(Ow.) as is plainly indicated in Luke. Those in the city were to get
aut and those out of the city in Judea round about were not to enter the
tity but to flee also.
Those who refer the passage to the Destruction of Jerusalem find the
fulfillment of this and the following verses in the flight of the Christians
co Pella, while Gaebelein and his school refer it to admonition given to
(he Jewish Christians who will be in Judea at the time of the appearing
)f the Antichrist. It could hardly with appropriate sense be applied to
(he Church in general which some are inclined to think is to pass through
the great tribulation. The fact also that the admonition is to those “in
Judea” points strongly to one or the other of the other views. It is quite
:ertain also that if the Church is not to pass through the great tribulation
here could then be no propriety whatever in advising Christians to flee at
he coming of their Lord or to pray that their flight be not in winter when
he days were short and severe or on the Sabbath day when the gates of
he towns were closed and food could not be procured or that a woman
night not be giving suck to a child.
Ver. 17. A man could run on the top of the flat-roofed houses to
he walls of the city and so escape (E. Mi. Fri. Win. Pau. Kui.) ; the
)rimary thought, however, being as others say (L. B. Ow. Gro. Wet.),
335
MATTHEW
that they should not come down to go into the house for any household
goods but should escape at once.
Ver. 19. The tone is of pity rather than denunciation. Christian
mothers would find escape harder, Jewish mothers, it developed, during
the siege of Jerusalem ate their own children in their awful extremity.
Ver. 20. In the winter the days were short, the roads were bad
and it was cold. On the Sabbath day the gates of the towns would be
closed and the securing of provisions would be difficult. Should the same
conditions prevail concerning the Sabbath during the time of the great
tribulation as prevailed during the time before the Destruction of Jerusa
lem their flight might be hindered in either case by the Jews if they in
any way disregarded the Jewish law about travel on the Sabbath, which
was to be only five furlongs.
Ver. 21. If the verse be referred to the Destruction of Jerusalem it
is a fact that over one million Jews perished. Josephus says nothing like u
was ever known before, and Bloomfield says, “Never to this day has it
been paralleled."
Ver. 22. "those days ',—To be taken either as the days of the
destruction of Jerusalem (L. M. E. A. Ow. Whe.) or of the great tribula¬
tion at the end of the age yet to come.
“had been —i. e., by the decree of God. Their length had been
fixed in the eternal counsels of God.
“shortened ",—It is not that the length of the days themselves wen-
shortened (Li. Fri.), but that the number of the days were shortened. (L.
M. A. D.)
“no flesh", —i. e., no man. This verse may be explained appropri¬
ately according to either view. How the siege of Jerusalem was provi¬
dentially shortened is a matter of history, else the whole nation would have
perished.
“for the elect's sake ",—If the great tribulation be thought of as
before the rapture, the elect here mentioned must refer to all of Christ s
followers then living; if it be thought of as after the rapture, with the
Church having been caught away, the elect must refer to the elect remnant
of the Jews, whereas if it be thought of in connection with the Destruction
of the Jews the elect will refer to the Christians then among the Jews (M.
E. Whe.), although some (A. L. Eb. Ow.) include those who were in
the future to be converted and gathered in from among the Jews and
Gentiles.
Gaebelein declares that the term “elect" in the Epistles always refers to
the Church, but that in this chapter, as well as throughout the Gospels,
always means His earthly people, the Jews.
2 3 Then if any man shall say unto
you, Lo. here is the Christ, or, Here;
believe 'it not. 24 For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders; so
’Or, him
as to lead astray, if possible, even the
elect. 25 Behold, I have told you be¬
forehand, 26 If therefore they shall
say unto you. Behold, he is in the
wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is
in the inner chambers; believe 'it not.
'Or, them
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MATTHEW
27 For as the lightning cometh forth Son of man. 28 Wheresoever the car-
from the east, and is seen even unto the case is. there will the eagles be gathered
west: so shall be the 3 coming of the together.
3 Gr. presence
Vers. 23-26. Prediction Concerning the False Christs.
It is at this point that such expositors as Alford and Olshausen, who
find the twofold reference in the prophecy, think that the narrative begins
i to point more to the future Second Coming and less to the Destruction
i of Jerusalem, while Lange says the transition is here marked without
i doubt to the Parousia at the end time. It will under no circumstances do
j to say with Calovius that Christ here passes to His spiritual advent through
I the Gospel.
Ver. 23. ” Then", —i. e., when the desolation and flight shall take
; place. Christ is still speaking of the time of that period of distress in
i verse 21. It will hardly do therefore with Lange to say that the word
“then" refers to the New Testament interval between the Destruction of
I Jerusalem and the Parousia.
“believe it not", —He shows them in verse 27 that His Second Com¬
ing was to be from the sky, while these false Christs appear on earth. The
fact that history knows little if anything of such false Christs prior to the
Destruction of Jerusalem and the fact that these words could have no
(possible application to Christians of this age who are instructed to “wait
i, for the Son of God from heaven " lends some support to the view that the
:time in question is that after the rapture of the Church and that the
'warning is intended for the Jewish believing remnant, although it may
(have a possible reference to the time of the overthrow of the holy city.
Ver. 24. “false Christs", —i. e., Antichrists,—pretenders.
“false prophets", —Not perhaps false Christian teachers (L.), nor
apostles of the false Christs (Gro.), nor giving themselves out as prophets
(raised from the dead, Elias, and others (Kui.), but rather false prophets
among the Jews pretending to be sent from God and trying to impose upon
Itheir fellow countrymen as had been done during national misfortunes of
other days.
"great signs and wonders ",—The reference here is to miracles per¬
formed by Satanic agencies as in II Thess. 2.9. Meyer, Lange, Owen and
others think here of “lying wonders”, pretended miracles, but not real.
“the elect "—To be taken either as the Christians in Judea and Jeru¬
salem who had been converted from among the Jews, or as the believing
(remnant of the Jews during the times of the Great Tribulation, in keeping
(with one or the other of the two views under consideration.
Ver. 26. Olshausen and Alford say this verse and the following
lean have no sense whatever except as applied to the coming of Christ in
I the clouds of heaven, the reference to the Destruction of Jerusalem being
but a very faint one indeed.
It is in the openness of Christ s coming to universal observation as
(contrasted with the secrecy and deception that the words of this verse and
I the next find their real force.
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MATTHEW
Ver. 27. The coming of the false Christs shall be more or less
concealed in the wilderness or in the secret chamber, the quiet of the desert
and the secrecy of the chamber being convenient places for the fomenting of
new movements or of rebellion, but the Coming of Christ shall be open
and discernible like an all-illuminating flash of light which no one can
mistake, its presence to be announced everywhere from east to west over
the whole world.
Whedon suggests the splendor of the Coming Son of man suspended
in the heavens while the earth makes one complete revolution.
If this verse were to be interpreted allegorically it could afford no
protection whatever against the wiles of the false Christs, because if the
coming of Christ was to be invisible and figurative and could be fulfilled
in the coming of the Roman armies or of Titus, how then could the warn¬
ing of verse 26 have any force? No, it is the contrast between the per¬
sonal coming of a false Christ and the personal coming of the true Christ;
the first earthly and lurking, the second heavenly and lightning-like.
Owen, of course, insists that the primary reference here is still to the
Destruction of the Holy City while its secondary, though higher sense, he
says, is to the final Coming of Christ.
Ver. 28. “eagles ",—The reference is to carrion-kites, a species of
vulture.
Some would have us believe there is an allusion here to the eagles of
the legions of Cestius. It is better perhaps to think of Christ adopting
the term to designate the enemy falling upon its prey, thus founding His
expression upon the same symbol that led the armies to adopt the eagles
for their standard.
“Wheresoever", etc .,—That is, says Meyer, "Wheresoever there is a
carcase there will Christ come in vengeance."
It is quite generally accepted that this explanation of the eagles is
the proper one, i. e., Christ coming to judgment, but to what must we refer
the “carcase"? Among the different views the following may be noted:
1. The carcase is Christ crucified and the eagles are His saints hasten¬
ing to meet Him at His Second Coming. (C. Ca. Ze. Jan. Cla.
Fri. Fie. Chr. Jer. Eut. Lut. Mue. Era. Bez. Theo.)
2. The carcase refers to the Christian Jews, the elect of Israel, and
the eagles to the Messiah. (Witt.) But this overlooks the uni¬
versal character of the Advent, and besides the carcase can hardly
be conceived of as something Christian.
3. The carcase is Jerusalem and the eagles are the Roman army. (Li.
Ow. Wol. Cle. Wet. Ham.) There is some merit in this view if
in the Roman army we recognize the judgment of God and con¬
sider the same as a figurative coming of Christ in judgment upon
the Jewish nation at that time.
4. The carcase is Jerusalem and the eagles Christ and His angel
host at the Parousia, at His coming in glory and judgment at the
end of the great tribulation. This is quite similar to the view
of Gaebelein, who takes the carcase as the unbelieving portion of
the Jewish people living at that time.
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MATTHEW
5. The carcase is by some referred to corruption in general and the
eagles to the false Christs who always gather wherever this is
found. But the conjunction "for" connects the expression directly
with the Coming of Christ. Others think of the eagles as the
Church, or a certain class of "advanced believers". But this is
weak and fanciful and deserving of little if any attention.
6. There are others who think that whether we make the primary
reference of the carcase to Jerusalem at the Parousia and the sec¬
ondary one to Jerusalem at its destruction by Titus, or vice versa,
such interpretation is too narrow and localized for such a far-
reaching comparison, and that what the Disciples saw fulfilled in
the Destruction of Jerusalem is to repeat itself scores of times in
the world’s history and to be fulfilled on the largest scale at the
Second Coming of Christ. This is all the more true, they seem
to think, since it is this advent which seems to be here in question,
and furthermore verses 23 to 27 would seem to be against referring
this primarily to any definite locality. This, they say, is a con¬
firmation of the truth of verse 27 that the Advent will announce
its presence everywhere, and that from the point of view of the
retributive punishment which the Coming One will be called upon
to execute. The carcase, therefore, while having doubtless a
specific reference to Jerusalem, seems to be a metaphorical expres¬
sion denoting that which is spiritually dead and doomed to
Messianic destruction. (M. G.)
29 But immediately after the tribula¬
tion of those days the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken: 30 and then shall ap¬
pear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the
Son of man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 31
And he shall send forth his angels ‘with
3 a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.
’Many ancient authorities read with a great
trumpet, and they shall gather &c.
'Or, a trumpet of great sound
Vers. 29-31. The Return of the King in Glory.
Ver. 29. "immediately after the tribulation of those days ”,—We
larc now to deal with the difficulty anticipated when we took the section
beginning with verse 15 as a reference to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Nearly every expositor takes the words now before us as a reference to the
Parousia of Christ at the end-time. Perhaps no portion of Scripture
has been the subject of more widely divergent opinions as to the time
lelement included in it than this one. It would seem that we have in each
of the three Gospels but a partial report of this great discourse of the Master,
and we must therefore compare the accounts one with the other, and we
must also bear in mind that even then we may not have before us the
prophecy in its entirety.
Charles R. Erdman has said, "It is evident that our Lord is describing
inot one event, but two; He is prophesying the literal overthrow of the Holy
City by the armies of Rome, but He is using the colors of this tragic scene
Ito paint the picture of His own coming in glory. So interwoven are these
two series of predictions that it is extremely difficult at times to be certain
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MATTHEW
whether the reference is to the nearer or to the more remote of these great
events.”
Among the various explanations of the words under consideration are
the following:
1. Weber says that the word “immediately” belongs to the preceding
verse. But all manuscript authority is against such connection.
2. Nast refers verse 29 to the Destruction of Jerusalem, and, to avoid
the difficulty, proposes a figurative interpretation of verses 29-36,
and sees here a picture of “a judicial visitation on nominal Chris¬
tendom by Christ in order to destroy all ungodly institutions and
principles in Church and State, of which visitation the overthrow
of the Jewish polity was but a type and which is itself in turn
the full type of the final and total overthrow of all powers of
darkness on the great day of judgment.” This makes the Lord's
coming in verses 29 to 36 a providential one and without refer¬
ence to His final personal coming. The language, however,
throughout the entire context is too plain to admit of a toning
down of this kind which pulls out of it the very heart of iis
meaning.
3. Hammond and Schott say that the translators have made a mis¬
take and that instead of “immediately” it should have been "sud¬
denly”, or, "unexpectedly”, the nature of the Advent being de¬
scribed as swift and surprisingly sudden. But the word used can
hardly be made to bear this meaning. Olshausen calls this inter¬
pretation a "makeshift”.
4. Owen refers the preceding verses to the Destruction of Jerusalem,
and says that the word “immediately” may be taken in the sense
of "very soon after”, and refers to the comparative brevity of the
intervening centuries between the Destruction of Jerusalem and the
final Parousia as compared with eternity. But this is not at all
satisfying, and something of the objection just made to the ex
planation preceding this one applies to this one.
5. Wetstein and others do not allow any reference here whatever to
the final Parousia but refer the entire context to the Destruction
of Jerusalem. They think that verses 32 to 34 refer undoubtedly
to the Destruction of Jerusalem and ask, therefore, why verses
29 to 31 should be interposed if they refer to a different and more
distant and more august event. They contend also that a refer¬
ence here to the Parousia would make Christ reply to the simple
question of the Disciples in a very confused and perplexing way.
They explain the language used as that of prophetic imagery.
But the marvelous signs and the details as here presented hardly
seem suited to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Then, again, if verses 29 to 31 be referred to the Destruction of
Jerusalem, how can the tribulation of verse 21 be represented as
past, since the Destruction of Jerusalem, in this case, is the very
culmination of that tribulation?
6. Ellicott and many others (M. D. Cl. Rob. Erd.) say the Parousia
is here represented as following immediately upon the Destruction
of Jerusalem. Meyer says that all fanciful interpretations of the
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MATTHEW
word “ immediately” come from the supposition that Jesus could
not have possibly so spoken; but this, he says, is contrary to all
exegetical rule, considering that Jesus repeatedly makes reference
elsewhere to His Second Coming as an event that is near at hand.
Ellicott, in defense of his explanation, explains the word “imme¬
diately" in three ways:
(a) By II Pet. 3.8, where a thousand years are said to be as one
day with God. Olshausen says this is not permissible here
because the representation is evidently adopted to human
conception.
(b) God often postpones or hastens His plans, even as man’s
purposes are oftentimes modified.
(c) Christ, as He has assured us, in His human nature did not
know the time of His coming, and so here He spoke in the
telescopic sense with the vision of two mountain peaks before
him, one beyond the other, but with no intimation of the
time intervening between them. This last explanation is
the one preferred by Ellicott.
7. Alford, Lange, Gordon and others (Au. Cre. Whe. Kel.) get rid
of the difficulty by transporting Luke’s account into Matthew’s
and so making " those days" cover all the time mentioned in Luke’s
passage, namely, the times of the Gentiles during which Jerusalem
is downtrodden, immediately after which, etc.
Alford then says, in agreement with Ellicott, as above, “All the
difficulty arising from the word ‘immediately’ comes from con¬
founding the partial fulfillment (the destruction of Jerusalem)
with the ultimate one (the Parousia), of which latter He now
speaks directly and mainly.’’
A. J. Gordon says, “After using language that can only apply to
that appalling event (the Destruction of Jerusalem) (verses 19
and 20), He adds, ‘For there shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, —no, nor
ever shall be’. How long shall this tribulation continue? Until
Christ’s Second Coming. For our Lord declares that ‘immedi¬
ately after the tribulation of those days’ the signs of the advent
shall be witnessed, when ‘they shall see the Son of man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’. So closely
are these two events connected in the prediction that some have
argued that Christ’s advent must have actually occurred at the
Destruction of Jerusalem in a spiritual or providential sense. But
a careful examination of the language used proves beyond question
that it is a literal coming that is here described, and that a literal
immediateness after the great tribulation is affirmed by the word,
‘immediately’ . If we turn to Luke’s Gospel, however, and read
his parallel report of our Lord’s words, all becomes plain (Luke
21.23-27). For he makes the tribulation to include the disper¬
sion of the Jews among all nations, and the treading down
of their Holy City by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled. In other words, the Great Tribulation covers the
entire age from Zion's captivity to Messiah’s coming.’’
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MATTHEW
8. Gaebelein, Scofield and others find no reference at all in this
entire chapter to the Destruction of Jerusalem, but refer it all to
the final Parousia at the Second Coming. “It is important”,
says Gaebelein, 4 'to see that the record of the discourse, as given
by the Holy Spirit, passes over the answer to the first question.
'When shall these things be?’ This is evident by the fact that
the Lord says not a word in the discourse about Jerusalem or the
destruction of the temple; while in Luke we hear that Jerusalem
is to be besieged by armies, and the inhabitants are seen falling
by the edge of the sword and led away captive into all the nations
and Jerusalem trodden down by the Gentiles—in Matthew we
do not find a word of this at all; instead of a scattering of the
elect people at the close of the Great Tribulation, we have a gather
ing of the elect.”
We frankly confess that none of the above explanations, to our mind,
fully meet the situation; and we just as frankly confess that we have no
better explanation of our own. Our choice lies between the last three.
The difficulty with the last explanation is not only that it leaves the main
question of the Disciples unanswered, but the similarity of language, as
used in both Matthew and Luke, certainly must have some reference to
one and the same thing. Compare the statements and the words of Matt.
24.4 to 9 with those of Luke 21.8 to 12 and also the words of verses 16
to 20 of the former with those of verses 21 to 23 of the latter, and it
certainly must appear that it looks like an utter wresting of language to
make these accounts refer to two entirely separate and distinct occurrences.
If this last explanation be set aside the choice must then rest between that
of Ellicott (view number 6) and that of Gordon (view number 7). Yet
it becomes apparent that if either one of these views be accepted, the other
must also be taken as a supplement to it, and consequently these two views
become in reality one, and perhaps are to be taken as the best solution of
the problem we have been endeavoring to solve.
“the sun shall be darkened ",—
1. Dorner says this is a prophetical, figurative delineation of the fall
of heathenism, the sun, moon and the stars signifying the nature
worship of the heathen.
2. Hengstenberg says the language is figurative and merely illustrative
of sad and troublous times.
3. Meyer, Olshausen and others (B. Ow. B-C. Pau. Schot.) contend
that the language must be taken literally in the sense of obscura¬
tion. This is much to be preferred, the obscurations finding their
explanation in II Pet. 3.10-12.
Owen explains the expression as a total eclipse of the sun as the
result of a smoky, lowering atmosphere such as usually precedes
earthquakes and similar convulsions of nature, the description
being a frequent one in Scripture.
“the moon shall not give her light", —To be explained similarly with
the expression concerning the sun.
"the stars shall fall from heaven ",—
1. Allegorically;
(a) The downfall of the Jewish commonwealth. (Wet.)
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MATTHEW
(b) The downfall of heathen star-worship. (Dor.)
(c) The downfall of those who shone brightly in the Church.
(Wor.) Wordsworth also refers the darkening of the sun
to the solar light of Christ’s truth being dimmed, and the
moon not giving its light he refers to the lunar orb of the
Church being obscured by heresy. Augustine also refers the
expression to the obscuration of the Church.
2. Stars literally falling, according to the notion that they were
fixed in the heavens. Meyer says, "The falling of the stars, i. e.,
the whole of the stars, as the expression must be taken, is im¬
possible; but it need not surprise us to see such an idea introduced
into a prophetic picture so grandly poetical as this. But this seems
to ascribe an error to Christ or at least His acquiescence in one; and
furthermore we must surely see something more than mere poetry
in this description.
3. Phenomenal appearances, shooting stars and meteors popularly
mistaken for real stars. (C. Ow. Fri. Kui.)
4. Literal obscuration finding explanation in II Pet. 3.10-12, as
above. (B. O. L. Pau.) Lange says the reference is to the
planets becoming disassociated from the solar system and taking
their places in heavenly constellation according to II Pet. 3.10-12.
But there is too much surmise about this phase of this last explan¬
ation.
The fourth view is perhaps the more acceptable.
"the powers of heaven shall be shaken ",—
1. The host of stars. This is a very common view (Isa. 34.4),
but it is a bit tautological after the words, "the stars shall fall' 1 .
2. The angel world. (O. Jer. Chr. Eut.) But this is somewhat
inconsistent with the word "shaken", and besides the whole refer¬
ence is to the physical domain.
3. The laws and forces by which the sun, moon and stars are kept
in the courses, i. e., the powers which uphold the heavens, which
stretch them out and produce the phenomena. (E. A. L. M.)
This is by far the better view.
"shaken" ,—The word refers to a literal tossing to and fro as a ship
on the waves.
Ver. 30. Says Ewald, "While the whole world is being convulsed
the heaven-sent Messiah appears in glory."
' then shall appear" ,—Not merely to the elect (Cre.) , but universally,
to be in keeping with what follows. (M.)
"the sign", —i. e., the sign inquired about in verse 3.
Perhaps this sign cannot be imagined until it comes, but among the
various views the following will be of interest;
1. The star of the Messiah. (O. BI. Fie.)
2. The rending of heaven and the appearing of angels. (Heb.)
3. A Cross. (Hi. Cy. Wor. Chr. Jer. Aug. and Alford with some
reserve.)
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MATTHEW
4. A lightning flash.
5. The signs of verse 29. (Hui. Schot.) But the definite article
"the" requires a definite sign. The word "then" is also apparently
against this view.
6. The Son of man Himself. (Dan. 7.13.) (E. B. Ew. Hen. Hof.
Fri.) But this is seemingly inconsistent with the following.
"They shall see the Son of man", and it is inconsistent also with
the question of the Disciples who asked for a sign of His coming.
7. The dawning of the Messianic glory, growing brighter and
brighter until Christ appears in the midst of it. (M. D. L. Whe.)
This is the better explanation.
"all the tribes of the earth", —In Zech. 12.10 this seems to be con
fined to the tribes of Israel, but here it seems the rather to be universal
"mourn",—The words, it would seem, apply to the inhabitants of
the whole earth. The reference is primarily to those who have done evil,
who pierced Him then and in every age since. (E. L. M. Ew. Dor.)
Ewald rightly says that penitence is not to be excluded from the mourning
It may be interesting just here to note the words of Owen, who in¬
sists that these verses together with all that has gone before refer to the
Destruction of Jerusalem. He says the appearance is not a literal one, but
virtually so; Christ’s vengeance was to be so real that they would recog¬
nize His hand in it just as though they had really seen Him with their
own eyes.
"coming on the clouds of heaven", —The clouds are doubtless literal
clouds lighted by His glory. It seems to indicate with evident clearness
that this coming of Christ is to be a visible one.
Alford says that the coming of this verse is the same as that in I Thcss
4.16-17, and that it is a coming for judgment which occurs at the com
mencement of the Millennium when Christ first establishes His Millennial
Kingdom. Alford furthermore says the reference is not to the judgment
in Matt. 23.31, which judgment he refers to the end of the Millennial
Kingdom.
"with power and great glory", —The power and glory of the king
dom which is displayed in the accompanying angel hosts of verse 31.
Ver. 31. "he shall send forth", —i. e. f from the clouds of heaven.
"with a great sound of a trumpet", —It is not that the individual
angels blow each one a trumpet, but what is meant is the trumpet of God.
which is sounded while Christ is sending forth His angels especially em¬
ployed in His service.
When is this trumpet sounded?
According to Scofield, Torrey, Morgan, Gaebelein, Pettingill and
others of this school it is the trumpet sounded at the close of the supposed
seven years and at the beginning of the Millennium, when Christ comes
with His saints (the raptured and resurrected Church), and the elect, who
are gathered out, refer especially to the believing Jews who have been con
verted during the seven years of tribulation, the resurrection of other be¬
lievers and the transformation of living believers having taken place ai
or just before, the beginning of the seven year period.
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MATTHEW
Most pre-millennial expositors do not seem to make any place for the
seven year period just mentioned, but say that this passage refers to the
time of the resurrection of believers, commonly called the First Resurrec¬
tion, and they refer the trumpet to the one blown in I Thess. 4.16. (M.
A. G. L. E.) Meyer and Lange identify this trumpet also with that of
I Cor. 15.52, but Alford refers this latter to the great trumpet of what
he calls the general resurrection at the end of the Millennium.
“his elect ",—These elect are, of course, according to the authorities
just quoted, the chosen of God of all ages who are caught up at the coming
of the Lord, but according to Scofield, and those of his school, they must
refer to certain elect ones, the Jews, who have believed during the time of
the tribulation, the supposed seven year period.
“they shall gather together ",—This is to be interpreted according
to the reference to be found in the word “elect”, as just discussed. The
“gathering together " is toward the place where He is in the act of appear¬
ing on earth. (M. L.)
Those who will hear nothing of a Millennium on earth refer these
verses to the final end of the world, and say that while these angels gather
the Christians to the right hand of the judgment seat, the evil angels will
bring the wicked to the left hand. (Whe.)
Owen, of course, refers this passage primarily to the Destruction of
Jerusalem, and in a higher sense to the final end of the world. He says
the “angels’ refer to the guardian angels who in the Destruction of Jeru¬
salem protected and guided the Christians to a place of safety; and with
Kuionel, he says the “four winds’ and the “from one end of heaven to the
other " means from all parts of Judea and from one horizon to the other in
Judea.
Lange says that as between Christ, the first-fruits and the first resur¬
rection there is a long period, so probably between the first resurrection of
the Christians and the end there is another peripd, as intimated in John
5.28,29. In this second period Lange places the judgment on the clerical
office (verse 45); then upon the collective Church (Chap. 25.1); then
upon its individual members (Chap. 25.14), and finally upon all nations
(Chap. 25.31). This, says Lange, points to the judgment of Christ
upon earth during the 1000 years of Revelation 20, and the sending of
the angels is to collect around Christ on earth His elect, although the
greeting and reception is to be regarded as conducted in the air.
Olshausen says the passage cannot refer to Palestine alone because of
the expressions, “from the four winds " and “from one end of heaven to
the other”, both of which phrases metaphorically denote the widest extent
of the earth. He says that since the Disciples only asked for the time and
the signs of His coming, the passage before us must refer to something prior
to that coming itself and prior to the resurrection of the Christians and the
transformation of the living saints. Therefore, he says, it does not apply
to the general union of all the saints in the kingdom of God after Christ’s
coming, or at His coming; but it applies to the dispersed of Israel who are
to be gathered together just before the resurrection of the just, in order
that they may be separated from the mass of unbelievers and be united so
they can all see the coming of the Son of man. Only thus, he says, do the
exhortations to watchfulness and fidelity have any true significance; for
345
MATTHEW
this implies the possibility of escaping the dreadful events at the Parousia
and being taken to a place of safety. The angels, he says, are human
messengers of the Lord, the sound of the trumpet being the power of th'
Holy Spirit. (Tho.)
3 2 Now from the fig tree learn her
parable: when her branch is now become
tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye
know that the summer is nigh: 3 3 even
so ye also, when ye see all these things,
know ye that ‘he is nigh, even at the
doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass away, till all
these things be accomplished. 35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away. 3 6 But
of that day and hour knoweth no one,
not even the angels of heaven, ’neither
the Son. but the Father only. 3 7 And
as were the days of Noah, so shall be the
’coming of the Son of man. 3 8 For as
in those days which were before the
flood they were eating and drinking,
JOr, it
-Many authorities, some ancient, omit neither
the Son.
3 Gr. -presence
Vers. 32-44. The Second Coming to be Sudden and Unexpected.
Vcr. 32. " putteth forth its leaves", —i. e., about Passover season,
about the last of March. The fruit of the fig tree accompanies the mature
leaf.
"the summer is nigh", —i. e., the harvest time of fruit in general. As
surely as the leaves of the fig tree are the sign of summer so shall the signs
of which He speaks portend most certainly the coming of the Son of man.
Alford says that as the withered fig tree, which the Lord cursed, repre¬
sented the Jewish race in their unfruitfulness, so this fig tree represents the
reviviscence of that race.
Ver. 33. "all these things", — (1) the signs in verse 30 (L.) ; (2)
the signs in verses 29 to 31 (M.) ; (3) all that Christ said in answer to
the question of the Disciples (O. Ow.). The second reference is the
more preferable.
"he is nigh", —Meyer says the subject is "the summer" of verse 3 2.
i. e., the summer time, the harvest reward in the Messianic kingdom. This
extending of the subject "summer" from verse 32 is permissible, but it
seems more direct to supply the subject "he" as in our text; or it is quite
as proper to supply the subject "it" as in the margin of our text and in the
Authorized Version, and make it refer to the Parousia, the end of the age.
inasmuch as that is what the Disciples were inquiring about.
In Luke it reads, "the kingdom of God" t and if this idea be read into
the narrative here, with Olshausen, Auberlen and others, then the word
"it" as in the margin must be supplied.
Olshausen says, "The kingdom of God is a state of things commenc¬
ing at the second coming of Christ, i. e., the kingdom of the saints upon
the renovated earth as in Revelation 20."
marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noah entered into the ark.
3 9 and they knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away: so shall
be the ’coming of the Son of man. 40
Then shall two men be in the field:
one is taken, and one is left: 41 two
women shall be grinding at the mill:
one is taken, and one is left. 4 2 Watch
therefore: for ye know not on what
day your Lord cometh. 43 ‘But know
this, that if the master of the house
had known in what watch the thief was
coming, he would have watched and
would not have suffered his house to be
“broken through. 44 Therefore be ye
also ready: for in an hour that ye
think not the Son of man cometh.
4 Or, But this ye know
6 Gr. digged through
346
MATTHEW
Ver. 34. " This generation ",—Here again opinions are widely
divergent:
1. The people then living. (E. O. D. M. F. G. Ow. Al.)
2. The Jewish race. (L. A. S. Ca. Au. Dor. Rig. Jan. Sto. Heu.
Heb. Sco. Gab. Pet. Mor. Wor. Tor. Bla. Mack. Nast.)
3. Creation. (Mai.)
4. The human race. (Jer.)
5. There is a sudden shift here to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
(Schot.)
6. The generation of believers, i. e., " the body of my disciples ’'.
(L. Cl. Pau. Cla. Eut. Chr. Ori. Theo.)
7. " All will begin to take place now in this time while you live ",—
i. e., you will survive the beginning of these things. (Lut. Ger.
Sta.)
8. The rationalizing interpreters say the prophecy has failed.
There does not seem to be any foundation whatever for views 3 and
4. View 7 is a mere expedient, and view 8 is of course not to be thought
of. Such a sudden change as is suggested in view 5 cannot be supposed,
as there is nothing whatever to support the supposition. View number 6,
like view number 7, seems to be an evasion of the issue, and the choice
must therefore rest as between views number 1 and number 2.
In regard to the second view it must be said that there is much objec¬
tion to it on the part of commentators.
Ellicott says there is not the shadow of authority for this interpre¬
tation. Olshausen says the word here employed (genea) is not once used
in the sense of ''race", either in the New Testament, nor in profane writers,
and only once in the Septuagint.
Godet says the interpretation is a forced one; Whedon says it has
met with little favor among scholars; while most German critics treat the
explanation as-a sheer invention without the shadow of authority either in
classical or Hellenistic usage; they say that some lexicons do not mention
it, even to condemn it.
On the other hand those who accept view number 1 must refer the
passage to the Destruction of Jerusalem. But then we will have difficulty
with the expression, " all these things ". These words look back to the
preceding verses, and however far back it might seem necessary to carry
their reference, the words of verses 29 to 31 must be included in it. But
when we ask the question as to whether "a// these things " really did take
place at the time of the overthrow of Jerusalem by Titus in A. D. 70;
i whether the Gospel of the kingdom had been preached in all the world,
I whether the Son of man had come in the clouds in visible glory, and
1 whether the elect had been gathered from the four winds, history answers
I that nothing of the kind ever occurred at that time.
Whedon and Owen refer " all these things’ to the “these things " of
I verse 3; but this is hardly fair in view of all that has come between that
| verse and the one before us.
Now, if the reference here be to the Parousia at the end-time, then
the word must be taken in the sense of "race". The fact remains that
many of the lexicons do give as the primary meaning of the word, Race,
Kind, Family, Stock, Breed.
347
MATTHEW
Says Alford, “Meyer, who strongly contends for the meaning 'gener¬
ation', states in a note that the word (genea) never absolutely means
'nation', but that it may by the context acquire this sense accidentally from
its meaning as ‘race’. This is exactly what is here wanted. Never was a
nation so completely one genea (race) in all accuracy of meaning as the
Jewish people.”
Dorner, with especial truth and force, notices that verses 34 and 36
would contradict each other if Christ announced everything still for the
same generation—as well as that the first Christians, nay, the Apostles,
could not possibly have continued to wait for Him, when Israel was not
converted and Christ did not come, therefore that they cannot have so
understood the words in the sense merely of the generation then living.
Alford in his commentary, and Stier in his "Words of the Lord
Jesus”, set forth practically incontrovertible arguments for the use of the
word genea here in the sense of "race”, and to these writings the student
will do well to refer.
Ver. 35. He claims for His words the eternity which belongs to
the word " Jehovah ” (Psa. 102.26.)
"my words”, —i. e., generally, but with special reference here to the
prophetic utterances preceding.
"shall not pass away”, —i. e., in any way whatever fail of their
accomplishment.
Meyer rightly observes that the first clause of this verse cannot be
regarded as a leading idea of it, but only as a subsidiary one by way of
background for what is immediately after said of “my words”.
Ver. 36. “of that day and hour”, —i. e., the exact time; as we
would say, "the hour and the minute”.
“neither the Son ”,—
1. This is referred to Christ's human nature as consistent with the
statement that He increased in wisdom. (Lu. 2.5 2). (A. M.
E. C. D. S. Al. Ow. Gro. Fri.)
2. He knew personally, but not officially, i. e., Christ was using
hyperbolical language as showing the great event was to be kept
a profound secret, the knowledge not having been given Him as
regards to us, i. e., for the purpose of being communicated to us.
(B. L. W-W. Wor. Lut., and many of the Fathers.) But this
seems something of an attempt to evade the .plain meaning of the
expression, the ignorance referred to being the same as that of man
and angels with which it is connected.
3. Schaff, who does not like this dualistic separation between Christ’s
two natures, assumes a voluntary self-limitation of knowledge on
the part of Christ, i. e., a sacred unwillingness to know.
Of the three views the first is by far the most satisfactory.
Meyer does not hesitate to say that Christ taught that His second
coming was to take place in the lifetime of the generation then living but
that no one knew upon what day or hour. But this makes Christ to bo
the author of erroneous prediction.
Ver. 37. The comparison here is not alone with the ignorance ol
348
MATTHEW
the exact time, but also with the sudden and unexpected manner in which
the two events took place.
Ver. 38. They were living in thoughtless security and gross sensu¬
ality. That the reference in the section before us is not to the Destruction
of Jerusalem, but to the end time, is seen from the fact that no such day
of surprises came upon Jerusalem; she died by inches.
Vers. 40,41. "one is taken ",—The verb is the same as that trans¬
lated "receive" in John 14.3.
1. The reference is to the Destruction of Jerusalem, and while one
is seized and put to death or led away captive, the other provi¬
dentially escapes. (Wet. Kui.) This, however, is ungram¬
matical inasmuch as the verb "taken" cannot be the equivalent
of "capture in war"; while furthermore the reference to* the De¬
struction of Jerusalem is, at this point, as we have already seen,
hardly warranted.
2. Alford refers this to the Millennial dispensation and to the gather¬
ing of the elect at that time, as set forth in I Thess. 4.16-17.
3. Ellicott and others (M. Whe.) refer it to the last day, to the final
judgment when the holy angels will come and snatching one will
bear him to the right hand of Christ, while the other is left to be
borne by evil angels to his doom at the left hand of Christ.
Meyer refers it to verse 31 and says if it pointed to I Thess. 4.16-
17 the preposition "up" would have been used in the make-up of
the verb instead of "along side of", as is the case. But there is
little if any force in this, and the view of Alford seems much
the simpler.
Ver. 42. If the second coming of the Lord were not possible in
our day; if it is still distant by the lapse of a thousand years of Millennial
glory, or must wait until a good part of the world has been converted,
this injunction, it would seem, could hardly have any significance for us
of this day, as it could not have had for them to whom it was directly
spoken.
Ver. 43. If the master of the house had been warned, as you have
been, he would have been watching, the exact time of the thief’s coming
not having been included in the warning.
Owen, who applies the preceding verses to the Destruction of Jeru¬
salem, says the prediction here passes to the day of final judgment.
Ver. 44. The same remarks are to be made under this verse as
those made under verse 42.
45 Who then is the faithful and wise
’servant, whom his lord hath set over
his household, to give them their food
in due season? 46 Blessed is that ’ser¬
vant, whom his lord when he cometh
shall find so doing. 47 Verily 1 say
unto you, that he will set him over all
that he hath. 48 But if that evil
’servant shall say in his heart, My lord
'Or. bondservant
tarrieth; 49 and shall begin to beat his
fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink
with the drunken; 50 the lord of thu
’servant shall come in a day when he
expecteth not, and in an hour when he
knoweth not, 51 and shall *cut him
asunder, and appoint his portion with
the hypocrites: there shall be the weep¬
ing and the gnashing of teeth.
"•'Or, severely scourge him
349
MATTHEW
Vers. 45-51. The Watchful and the Careless Servants.
Ver. 45. The image changes from a householder watching for a
thief to a servant watching for his master.
'‘Who then”, —i. e., considering the necessity for watchfulness.
“set over his household”, —To dispense and apportion food.
“food in due season”, —i. e., suitable food and at the proper time.
The verse applies especially to the ministers of the Gospel, but it has
a wider reference to all of God’s ministering servants.
Ver. 46. Here is the answer to the question of verse 45. Instead
of saying, “It is he who,” etc., prominence is given to the blessedness of
such a servant.
“find so doing”, —i. e., in accordance with the duty assigned to him
in verse 45. It is our duty, not to be idly looking at the clouds in radiant
expectation of His appearance, but to be found “so doing”, i. e., busy at
our appointed task, even though we knew the hour of His coming.
Ver. 47. This statement is not to be pressed too strongly in its
spiritual application and so give the sense of one saint being placed over
another. It gives completion to the story, but in the diffusion of love, the
more each one has the more there is for all.
Ver. 48. The conduct of the evil servant springs from unbelief
with regard to the coming of his Lord.
“that evil servant”, —i. e., on the supposition that he is evil. He
also was set over the household, but proved unfaithful.
“My Lord tarrieth”, —Lange says the expression marks an internal
mocking frivolity. It describes a temper identical with that portrayed in
II Pet. 3.3-4—he is a long time in coming.
Ver. 49. “his fellow servants”, —i. e., such as are faithful servants
of their absent master.
“eat and drink with the drunken”, —i. e., with his drunken com¬
panions, guests and outsiders and such fellow servants, who like him may
have been evil.
Ver. 51. “shall cut him asunder”, —Owen says the reference is to
“severe flagilation”, pointing out that he survived the punishment.
On the other hand, Meyer, Whedon and others adopt the literal inter¬
pretation, i. e., actually cut him to pieces, in two parts.
There is little force in the objection of Owen to the literal interpre¬
tation, because what follows, “portion with the hypocrites”, is only a state¬
ment of the thing itself which the likeness of that terrible punishment is
intended to illustrate, and we, therefore, see no reason to depart from the
literal sense of the expression, this sense of course, as applied to the parable,
not being intended to be carried over into the thing it illustrates, i. e., the
future judgment.
Ellicott gives the expression a figurative sense, i. e., his lord with the
sharp sword of judgment smites through the false apparent unity of his
life and reveals its duplicity.
350
MATTHEW
Among other interpretations are the following: "scourge” (D. O.
Pau. Schot.), "mutilate" (Mi.), "exclude from service" (Bez. Gro. Mai.),
“withdraw from him his spiritual gifts" (Theo.), "extreme punishment"
(Chr.).
"with the hypocrites", —i. e., such as he had proved himself to be,
being in reality in the service of the world but professedly in that of Christ.
"there", —i. e., in hell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto ten virgins, who took
their 'lamps, and went forth to meet
the bridegroom. 2 And five of them
were foolish, and five were wise. 3
For the foolish, when they took their
'lamps, took no oil with them: 4 but
the wise took oil in their vessels with
their 'lamps. 5 Now while the bride¬
groom tarried, they all slumbered and
slept. 6 But at midnight there is a
cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come
ye forth to meet him. 7 Then all those
virgins arose, and trimmed their 'lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise,
'Or, torches
Vers. 1-13. The Five Wise and the Five Foolish Virgins.
Some authorities say that the affair took place according to the Jewish
custom that the bridesmaids should wait at the bridegroom's house while
he brought his bride from her father's house, usually after sunset. (E.
Whe.) Others say the ordinary custom is reversed and that the wedding
took place in the home of the bride, because the thing signified is the coming
of the Lord to the bride, the Church. (M. L. D.)
Still others say the bridesmaids were with the bride at her father's
house waiting for the bridegroom to come fo£ her from whence they would
all go to his house for the marriage supper.
It is better perhaps to adhere to this last explanation, the ordinary
custom, and interpret accordingly where we can.
Ver. 1. "Then", —i. e., at the period spoken of at the end of the
preceding chapter, the coming of the Lord.
All pre-millennialists, of course, refer this to Christ's personal coming
to establish His reign on earth, while all post-millennialists refer it to His
final coming in judgment at the end of the world.
"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened ",—i. e., in respect to
the principle of admission and exclusion that will be followed when that
kingdom shall be set up.
"ten" ,—This represents perhaps only a definite number. It was the
usual number of bridesmaids, although sometimes, in case of rich marriages,
as many as seventy were used.
Give us of your oil: for our lamps
are going out. 9 But the wise answered,
saying, Peradventure there will not be
enough for us and you: go ye rather
to them that sell, and buy for your¬
selves. 10 And while they went away
to buy, the bridegroom came: and they
that were ready went in with him to
the marriage feast: and the door was
shut. 11 Afterward came also the other
virgins, saying. Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I
say unto you, I know you not. 13
Watch therefore, for ye know not the
day nor the hour.
351
MATTHEW
“virgins", —i. e., unmarried females, but not necessarily representing,
as Whedon would have us believe, holy character. They refer to all be¬
lievers, faithful souls bearing their lamps. (A. Scha.)
“went forth", —Not perhaps from the bride’s house (M.), but from
their own homes to go to the bride’s house, from whence they were to go
out to meet the coming bridegroom and escort him and the bride to his
house.
Alford says that the bride here is, in strict interpretation, the Jewish
Church and the ten virgins are the Gentile congregations accompanying her.
Ver. 2. There is no contrast here between chastity and its opposite,
as Cremer suggests; nor does it represent the foolish as having a dead faith
(lamps without light). All this is quite beside the parable. The lamps
were all burning at first and for a certain length of time.
Vers. 3,4.' The foolish seem vain and thoughtless, going forth
through excited feeling.
Ver. 5. “tarried" , —This is the same word as that in Chap. 24.48,
“My Lord turrieth" , where the Lord seems to hint that the real time of His
coming might be more distant than the words predicting its nearness liter¬
ally expressed.
“they all slumbered and slept" , —The first word implies the nodding
and the second the continual sleeping.
Some apply this to sleeping in death. But this will not fit the
machinery of the parable (verse 8), and it also assumes that none of the
faithful {“they all") would be living on the earth when the Lord comes.
Ver. 6. The approach of the bridegroom was made known by the
light of the torches they carried. The hour was later than the virgins
expected.
“a cry". —i. e., by the porter (A.), by the waiting spectators (M.),
or possibly by the bridegroom’s party (E. L. Ow. Whe.).
Owen says the bride is the Church of which the virgins are the mem¬
bers, the representatives, and that the cry is identical with the blast of the
last trumpet at the final day of judgment. This is of course consistent
with his exegesis of the whole of this section of Scripture.
Ver. 7. All now seem alike; all wanted their lamps trimmed.
Ver. 9. “ Peradvcnture there will not be enough", —No man can
have more of this provision than will supply his own wants.
“go ye rather". —Spoken not in mockery, but in earnest.
Vers. 10,11. Alford says this feast is the marriage supper ol
Rev. 19.7-9, after which the foolish will be judged in common with the
rest of the dead.
Ver. 13. Olshauscn, Alford and others suppose the foolish virgins
to be excluded only from the Millennial kingdom, but not from the ulti¬
mate kingdom of heaven. Schaff, a post-millennialist, says that “I know
you not" and “the door was shut" argues against this, and he says Alford
tries to evade the difficulty by making a distinction between “1 never knew
you" of Chap. 7.23 and “I know you not" of this passage. (See comment
on Chap. 24.42.)
352
MATTHEW
14 For it is as when a man. going in¬
to another country, called his own
’servants, and delivered unto them his
goods. 15 And unto one he gave five
talents, to another two, to another one;
to each according to his several ability;
and he went on his journey. 16
Straightway he that received the five
talents went and traded with them, and
made other five talents. 17 In like
manner he also that received the two
gained other two. 18 But he that re¬
ceived the one went away and digged
in the earth, and hid his lord s money.
1 9 Now after a long time the lord of
those ’servants cometh, and maketh a
reckoning with them. 20 And he that
recei/cth the five talents came and
brought other five talents, saying, Lord,
thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo,
I have gained other five talents. 21 His
lord said unto him. Well done, good and
faithful Servant: thou hast been faith¬
ful over a few things. I will set thee
over many things; enter thou into the
joy of thy lord. 22 And he also thit
received the two talents came and said.
Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two tal¬
ents; lo, I have gained other two talents.
’Gr. bondservants
'Gr. bondservant
Vers. 14-30. The Parable of the Talents.
In the parable of the ten virgins the simple idea is that of waiting,
watching, in constant readiness for the coming bridegroom. In this par¬
able of the talents it is active watchfulness that is enjoined. The first sets
forth the contemplative side of the Christian life, while the second sets
forth the active side of it. The foolish virgins thought their part too easy,
while the wicked servant thought his part too hard.
Ver. 14. “it is”, —i. e., the kingdom of heaven is.
f i * m m g
going into another country”, —i. e., as our Lord ascended into
heaven.
his oivn servants ”,—The reference is to Christians and not to the
world at large.
delivered unto them his goods”, —i. e., for investment; an oriental
custom. So Christ entrusts to Christians in this world the treasure of His
spiritual life.
Ver. 13. Spiritual gifts are regulated by personal capacity.
Vers. 16,17. The first two made an increase equal to the amount
of their trust, endowment. Of each one will be required as much as he
has been given.
Ver. 18. This servant is not to be confounded with the wicked
servant of Chap. 24.48. This is not actively an evil doer, but a do-
nothing, a hider of talents.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done,
good and faithful Servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will
set thee over many things; enter thou
into the joy of thy lord. 24 And he
also that had received the one talent
came and said. Lord, I knew thee that
thou art a hard man, reaping where
thou didst not sow, and gathering where
thou didst not scatter; 25 and I was
afraid, and went away and hid thy
talent in the earth; lo, thou hast thine
own. 26 But his lord answered and
said unto him, Thou wicked and sloth¬
ful Servant, thou knewest that I reap
where I sowed not, and gather where I
did not scatter; 27 thou oughtest there¬
fore to have put my money to the
bankers, and at my coming I should
have received back mine own with in¬
terest. 28 Take ye away therefore the
talent from him, and give it unto him
that hath the ten talents. 29 For unto
every one that hath shall be given, and
he shall have abundance: but from him
that hath not, even that which he hath
shall be taken away. 3 0 And cast ye
out the unprofitable Servant into the
outer darkness: there shall be the weep¬
ing and the gnashing of teeth.
353
MATTHEW
Ver. 19. “after a long time ",—Here, as in the previous parable, is a
faint suggestion, as it were, of a longer delay than men looked for in the
coming of Christ, which is the counterpart of this.
"the lord of thos? servants cometh ’’,—Says Alford, “This is the
judgment of the Millennial advent, which for the servants of Christ is their
final judgment, but not that of the rest of the world.”
Ver. 21. "good and faithful ",—The genus and species of an up¬
right character.
"enter thou into the joy of thy lord", —i. e. f participate in the happ -
ness which thy master is enjoying.
In the application of this parable this joy, according to post-millen-
nialists, refers to the heavenly rewards in eternal glory; but according to
pre-millennialists it refers to the millennial joys, just as "set thee over many
things" is by them referred to the same period.
The joy of the Lord, Alford refers to that arising from the completion
of His work and labor of love, of which the first Sabbatical rest was
typical and of which His faithful servants shall in the end partake.
Ver. 24. "reaping where thou didst not sow ",—-This is a man’s lie.
"scatter ",—This means to winnow, by casting grain to the wind
which carries the chaff away.
Ver. 25. "and I was afraid", —i. e., of the consequences in case he
lost the money. The fear is a pretended one. It would have been more
commendable if he had lost it by investing it as the others had done.
"thou hast thine own ",—Another lie. He did not account for his
time and his labor which belonged to his lord, and so he did not give to the
lord what was his.
Ver. 26. "thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not", —i. c..
according to his own statement. These words are not, however, conces¬
sive, but hypothetical and not admitting himself to be such a hard master.
It is as if he had said, “If thou hadst really thought me such a hard master
thou oughtest, etc., in order to avoid utter ruin."
Ver. 28. "Take ye away the talent therefore from him ",—This
shows the talent to refer to external opportunity, inasmuch as a man s
ability cannot be taken from him.
Ver. 29. The words of this verse justify the preceding judgment by
appealing to a principle founded on universal experience.
31 But when the Son of man shall
come in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then shall he sit on the throne
of his glory: 3 2 and before him shall be
gathered ail the nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as the
shepherd separateth the sheep from the
goats: 3 3 and he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the
left. 34 Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand. Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the king¬
dom prepared for you from the founda¬
tion of the world: 3 5 for I was hungry,
and ye gave me to eat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a strang¬
er, and ye took me in: 3 6 naked, and
ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited
me: I was in prison, and ye came unto
me. 3 7 Then shall the righteous an¬
swer him. saying, Lord, when saw wc
thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst
and gave thee drink? 3 8 And when
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee
in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39
And when saw we thee sick, or in
354
MATTHEW
prison, and came unto thee? 40 And
the King shall answer and say unto
them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch
as ye did it unto one of these my breth¬
ren, even these least, ye did it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on
the left hand. ‘Depart from me. ye
cursed, into the eternal fire which is
prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 for I was hungry, and ye did not
give me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger,
’Or, Depart from me under a cnnc
and ye took me not in: naked, and ye
clothed me not; sick, and in prison,
and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall
they also answer, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not minister unto thee? 45
Then shall he answer them, saying.
Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as
ye did it not unto one of these least,
ye did it not unto me. 46 And these
shall go away into eternal punishment:
but the righteous into eternal life.
Vers. 31-46. The Judgment Based upon Works.
There are four views of this passage which present themselves for
consideration, and they are as follows:
I. It refers to a final judgment of unbelievers at the end of the Millennium.
(K. R. O. A. S. B-C.) In favor of this view is adduced:
1. Those only are judged who are distinguished from Christ's breth¬
ren, but nothing is said of a judgment upon these brethren them¬
selves. The strength of this argument depends largely upon who
are meant by the brethren.
(a) If these brethren constitute a third audience, either Jews
according to the flesh, as many think, or the elect saints in
general, the Church, as others think, then both the sheep and
the goats would represent naturally two different classes of
unbelievers.
(b) If, however, the brethren be conceived of as consisting of
the sheep on His right hand, which many maintain is quite as
natural, then the right hand group would consist of Chris¬
tians who had been kind to one another as the brethren of
Christ, while the goats, of course, as not having been so
disposed, would consist of unbelievers upon whom an adverse
judgment falls.
2. The verdict turns upon works and not upon faith, and therefore
it does not relate to believers.
(a) However, Christians are judged also according to their
works: not works as such, but rather as the outgrowth of the
faith and love which prompted them.
3. No one but an unbeliever, such a one as never had the conscious¬
ness of a personal relation to Christ, could say what is contained in
verses 37 to 39, because Christians do these things distinctly with
reference to Christ and for His sake. This is the strongest argu¬
ment for the view we are now discussing.
fa) But may not the answer have been the language of humility?
Still it is hard to think, even as Olshausen says, of Christian
humility devoid of consciousness in respect to a matter of
this kind. In this case the language of the goats would be
the language of self-justification.
Certain things, however, militate very strongly against this view:
355
MATTHEW
(1) It is contrary to Scripture usage to call any other than
Christians "sheep”, or “righteous”, or “blessed of my
Father”, or to say that “the kingdom was prepared for
them from the foundation of the world”, in which last
expression Alford strongly maintains that the elect in
general seem to be exclusively involved.
(2) It would seem that Christians only would be given tu
doing the things mentioned in verses 35, 36 and 40,
which Christ represents as done unto Him.
(3) If they were unbelievers and heathen, to save them be¬
cause of their behaviour toward Christ’s brethren would
manifest not only what Keim calls “a remarkable toler¬
ation”, but it would seem to be utterly inconsistent with
the whole tenor of New Testament teaching.
(4) This judgment it seems is one of works only, and if so,
it is consistent that Christians should appear in it, as
we have already seen; and in this case there would at
least be included people who were converted during the
Millennium, granted that all other Christians were
translated and judged before the Millennium; other¬
wise it leaves only the heathen to be judged from among
whom some are saved and that because of their works.
II. It refers to a final judgment upon professing believers only at the end
of the Millennium. (Gro. Eut. Lact.)
This is the oldest view, and in favor of it the following is adduced:
1. Verse 34 shows the sheep to have been real Christians, while their
actions as set forth in verses 35 and 36 show the same thing; the
goats by the same test proving themselves to have been unfaithful
or false professors of the faith.
2. Of no one but Christians would the things mentioned have been
expected, and only Christians do such things as those recited in
verses 35 and 36.
3. From any other standpoint it would establish the doctrine of sal¬
vation by works and show that some out of the heathen will be
saved because of their works.
4. Meyer says the expression ” all nations” proves it. He says the
word “nations” does not necessarily exclude the Jews, and calls
attention to Matt. 28.19; 24.9; John 11.50; II Cor. 5.10; Rom
14.10. He maintains that the judgment of unbelievers forms a
distinct and separate scene.
(a) But the expression “all nations” proves Meyer’s contention
only on the ground that the universality of Christianity is
presupposed, everybody practically having at least professed
faith in Christ.
But against this second view is to be urged the fact that verse 37
could not be the language of real Christians (A. O. E.). These
authorities just quoted declare that the words could, however, be
used by the merciful among the heathen. The argument used,
however, seems weak and dangerous. For instance, Alford, much
356
MATTHEW
to our surprise, says, “These who are judged know not that all
their deeds of love have been done to and for Christ. They are
overwhelmed at the sight of the grace which has been working in
them and for them and the glory which is now their blessed
portion. It is not works as such but the love which prompted
them—that love which was their faith—which felt its way,
though in darkness, to Him who is love—which is commended.
Any good that they did was the fruit of Christ’s Spirit, and this
Spirit is purchased for man by Christ, and thus they are blessed
of His Father and the kingdom is prepared for them. The Scrip¬
tures assure us of the Second Resurrection; the First, of the dead
in Christ to meet Him and to reign with Him and to hold judg¬
ment over the world (I Cor. 6.2) ; the Second, of all the dead, to
be judged according to their works. And to what purpose would
a judgment be if all were to be condemned?’'
III. It refers to a final judgment upon both unbelievers and believers at the
end of the Millennium. (R. Scha.)
In favor of this is adduced the following:
1. The expression “all nations” seems to favor this interpretation,
(a) Olshausen objects to this on the ground that “my brethren “
is distinguished from both the sheep and the goats. It
could, however, in this case refer to those on the right hand,
the righteous themselves, or to some special class of believers.
(See notes under verse 32.)
With regard to the expression “all nations ”, Whedon calls
attention to the fact that it is not a judgment of the nations
as such any more than the twelve are commended in Chap.
28.19 to teach “all nations” as such; but the reference, he
says, is to the individuals who compose the nations.
2. As verse 34 would seem to refer to Christians whose answer is to
be construed as one of humility, or of surprise as having been done
to Christ personally; so verse 46 would seem to refer to the wicked
and unbelieving.
The objections to be urged against this view are:
(1) Christians could not use the language of verses 37 to 39.
Olshausen says it could not be the language of humility be¬
cause Christian humility cannot be thought of as devoid of
consciousness.
(2) The New Testament teaches that Christians shall not be
brought into the judgment. Some, however, as we have
seen, conceive of this as a judgment for works in which it is
proper for Christians to have part.
IV. It refers to a judgment of the living nations at the beginning of the
Millennium. (Sco. Bla. Gab. Mor. Tor. Pet. Mack.)
Says Scofield, “This judgment is to be distinguished from the judg¬
ment of the great white throne. Here there is no resurrection; the
persons judged are living nations; no books are opened; three classes
are present, sheep, goats, and brethren; the time is at the return of
Christ (verse 31 ) ; and the scene is on the earth. All these particu¬
lars are in contrast with Rev. 20.1 1-14, the scene of the final judg¬
ment at the end of the Millennium. The test in this judgment is
35 7
MATTHEW
the treatment accorded by the nations to those whom Christ here calls
‘my brethren. These ' brethren are the Jewish remnant who will
have preached the Gospel of the kingdom to all nations during the
great tribulation. The test in Rev. 20.11-17 is the possession of
eternal life.” This same author says those who are found upon the
right hand form the Gentile nucleus of the population of the Millen¬
nial earth, while those upon the left go away into eternal punishment.
Ver. 31. " the Son of man", —The Lord here identifies Himself as
the Son of man described in the vision of Daniel. The passage which
follows is a proof text of His divinity inasmuch as all judgment is com¬
mitted into His hands by the Father.
"in his glory", —i. e., the glory which belongs to Him as the Messiah.
Both Alford and Olshausen say that Chap. 24.30 has to do with an earlier
period in the revelation of His glory, which glory in Chap. 24.30 is that
also of His saints with whom He is there to be accompanied. They are
right, though only, of course, on the ground of their theory that the coming
of the Son of man in our verse is to take place at the end of the Millennium,
while that of Chap. 24.30 takes place, according to these same authorities,
at the beginning of the Millennium.
”all the angels with him", —i. e., as witnesses and executors of His
will.
Olshausen thinks that as verse 40 seems to imply that the saints are
present also, the expression "angels" is here taken in a comprehensive sense
so as to include the saints, the just made perfect (Heb. 12.33). If by
the expression "my brethren" is meant the saints in general, Olshausen’s
idea may be conceded.
Owen says that according to I Thess. 4.16,17 the Christian dead are
raised first and then the Christian living are caught up together with them,
and then the wicked are raised, and so to the wicked the saints seem to
come to judgment with the Lord.
"then shall he sit ",—An expression of finished victory.
"the throne of his glory", —The literal is "his glorious throne”, i. e..
the throne which He shares with the Father, says Ellicott.
Ver. 32. "and before him shall be gathered all nations", — (See in¬
troductory discussion as to the subjects of this judgment.)
1. All nations, then universally Christianized, i. e., Christendom,
then co-extensive with all nations, all having professed the Chris¬
tian faith. (M. L.)
This makes the judgment refer exclusively to professing Christians.
"my brethren", they say, refers either
(a) to the poor, obscured and despised who were always with
Him on earth, and with whom He represents Himself as now
surrounded. (M. Au.)
(b) to Christians generally, and pre-eminently the least of them.
(K. L. O. Ke. Hil. Geo. Cre.)
2. All unbelievers as distinguished from the elect. (A. O. E. S.)
"my brethren", then refers, they say, either
(a) to any of the great family of men. (A.)
(b) to believers in Christ who are with Him in glory by the side
of the throne. (O. Cre.)
358
MATTHEW
3. All believers and all unbelievers of all ages and all continents—
all stand before Him. (Ow. Whe. Ken.)
"my brethren", these authorities say refers either
(a) to the Apostles and by inference to all messengers of Christ
in all ages. (Whe. Ken.)
(b) to one of the least of your own number, believers in Christ
like yourselves. (Ow.)
4. All living Gentile unbelievers to be judged at the beginning of the
Millennium. (Mor. Sco. Gab. Tor. Pet. Bla. Mack.)
"my brethren" then refers to the believing Jews then present, the
judgment taking place on earth.
"he shall separate them", —The two classes are probably mingled to¬
gether up to this time; pastured together, as Meyer says. The separating
involves the idea of judging. The work is done probably by the ministry
of the angels.
"as a shepherd", —As the Shepherd of all mankind He knows how
to distinguish them perfectly.
Ver. 33. The right hand and the left are understood, says Ellicott,
according to the laws of what we might call a natural symbolism, as indi¬
cating respectfully good and evil, acceptance and rejection.
The wicked are conceived under the figure of goats, doubtless, as
Meyer and De Wette say, because goats were considered worthless, and not
perhaps on account of the stench and wantonness of goats (Gro.), or their
stubbornness (L. The. Mai.), or both combined (Nast).
Ver. 34. "the King" ,—Here for the first and only time Christ gives
Himself this name. He comes forward in all His kingly dignity since He
has now appeared in His kingdom. (Chap. 16.28.)
"Com?", —Not to be taken in a local sense but as an expression of
encouragement and incitement.
"ye blessed of my Father", —The idea is one of possession, belonging
to the Father rather than of being blessed by Him.
This, say Meyer, Lange and others, means blessed as the regenerate,
renewed by the Holy Spirit, the elect of God, who by their works have
proven their faith and profession.
"inherit the kingdom", —This kingdom all post-millennialists, of
course, refer to heaven.
Some pre-millennialists make it to be the kingdom of Christ here on
earth during the Millennium (Sco. Mor. Gab. Pet. Tor.), while Alford,
Lange and all other pre-millennialists who place this judgment scene at the
end of the Millennium, refer the kingdom to the time of the new heavens
and the new earth after the Millennium.
Ver. 35. "ye took me in", —i. e., numbered me among your own
circle (A. Ow.), introduced me to your family (M.).
Vers. 37-39. This is taken by some as a modest exhibition of humil¬
ity on the part of the believers in Christ. (M. D. Ow. Whe. Ori.) Meyer
says it is a declining with humility as not having rendered the service to
Christ Himself .
On the other hand others maintain that believers in Christ could not
359
MATTHEW
be so surprised and that this proves they were not believers, not Christians
(E. O. A.), or as Auberlen says, "they have not as yet been leading con¬
sciously the New Testament life".
Olshausen remarks here, "To those who have been actuated by a
humble child-like love there will then be a disclosure of a living faith, the
living connection that subsists between the Redeemer and His people."
Ver. 40. " these my brethren”, —See exposition under verse 32 and
the discussion introductory to this section of Scripture, to which add also
the view of Ludhardt, "the Christian Church in distress".
Ver. 41. " Depart from me, ye cursed”, —The omission of "of my
Father' ' is significant. He is not the author of the curse. (E. A. O. L. S. )
The words, " prepared from the foundation of the earth” , are not
repeated here, but are to be understood as known to the hearer as a matter
of course.
" eternal fire which is prepared”, —This is not followed by "for you”,
but by "for the devil and his angels”, because the fall of the angels (II Pet.
2.4) took place, as Scripture tells us, before the introduction of sin among
men and so the fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, but as men
became partakers of the guilt of the devil they are of course condemned to
share in his punishment.
Ver. 44. The ignorance here expressed is of another kind and
closely connected with self-righteousness. As if they would have been glad
to serve Him (!), and thus trying to excuse themselves.
Ver. 46. " eternal punishment”, —The punishment is as eternal as
the reward, the death as everlasting as the life.
Regarding the entire passage Owen says that according to the pre-
millennial view the righteous should be acquitted before the wicked are even
raised, whereas here the wicked are raised, tried and condemned before the
righteous enter af all upon their reward. They escape, he says, somewhat
the difficulty they confront in this judgment scene by making the scene
1000 years long, beginning at the beginning of the Millennium, but he
declares that there is no support in the passage for this.
Alford says he cannot see how the features of this whole description
can agree with the idea of this judgment being previous to the Millennium.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
i
29 But I say unto you. I shall not
drink henceforth of this fruit of the
vine, until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father s kingdom.
Ver. 29. (See exposition on Luke 22.16-18.)
64 Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast
said: nevertheless I say unto you.
Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man
sitting at the right hand of Power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven.
Ver. 64. The Second Coming in a Figurative and Ever Present
Sense.
”Thou hast said”, —i. e.. he was what the words they had uttered
360
MATTHEW
had implied. It was a solemn affirmation of the truth involved in the
question. In other words, He said, "I am." Alford thinks a reference
is made to a pievious conviction and admission by Caiaphas himself (John
1 1.49,50), but this is not likely.
"nevertheless", —i. e., however apart from what I have just affirmed
ye shall henceforward have reason to be satisfied from actual observation
that I am the Messiah who was seen by Daniel in his vision.
"henceforth", —i. e., from now on, from the accomplishment of this
trial, i. e., after my death. (M. A. Ow.)
Says David Brown "The word rendered ' hereafter’ (Authorized Ver¬
sion) means not 'at some future time’, as now the word ‘hereafter’ com¬
monly does, but what the English word originally signified, 'after here’,
‘after now', or ‘from this time’. Accordingly in Luke 22.69 the words
used mean ‘from now', or ‘from this time’. So that though the reference
we have given it to the day of His glorious Second Appearing is too obvious
to admit of doubt, He would, by using the expression, ‘from this time’,
convey the important thought which He had before expressed, immediately
after the traitor left the supper table to do his dark work, Now is the Son
of man glorified'."
The glorification of Christ is by Himself said to begin with His
betrayal. (John 13.31.)
"ye shall see", —i. e., in the course of experience.
The expression, says Lange, must not be limited to the final appearing
of Christ, but refers to His whole state of exaltation, i. e., to the personal
exaltation which reveals itself in the almighty power and universal influ¬
ence exercised by Him throughout the whole course of history.
"or? the right hand of Power", —The power here is that of the eternal
One, and the expression is equivalent to the right hand of God. The ref¬
erence is to His omnipotence. (Psa. 110.1.) It is "the" power, the
abstract for the concrete, the Mighty One being conceived of as power and
the reference is to His share in the governing of the world in which His
glory is manifested.
"coming on the clouds", —The expression looks on, as Alford says,
to the awful time of the end when every eye shall see Him, but the reference
is not specifically to this, as De Wett says, but rather, as Lange puts it, "to
the whole judicial administration of Christ, which commences immediately
after His resurrection, but more especially at the destruction of Jerusalem,
and shall be completed in the end of the world." The reference is there¬
fore mainly to a figurative coming in the shape of those mighty influences
which from His place in heaven He will shed upon the earth,—-His
sovereign sway. (M. L. Bez. Nea. Holt. Weis. Ges. Schen.)
Meyer seems rightly to say that, " ' henceforth ye shall see ' can only
be said of something that beginning now is continued henceforth". The
sitting cannot therefore be regarded as an object of actual sight. The
"henceforth" here, says Meyer, requires for what follows the figurative
sense. He also thinks that the expression in Mark (Chap. 14.64),
"sitting at the right hand of Power", requires the figurative meaning as
well, while Luke alone, he maintains, gives the literal meaning.
361
MARK
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
MARK
(A. D. 57—A. D. 63)
CHAPTER FOUR
herself: first the blade, then the ear, then
the full grain in the ear, 29 But when
the fruit "is ripe straightway he 3 putteth
forth the sickle, because the harvest is
come.
*Or, alloiveth
J Or. sendeth forth
Vers. 26-30. The Kingdom of God from Seed-time to Harvest.
This beautiful parable is not merely an appendix to the preceding
one, as Braune says; it is rather, as Stier says, an independent link in the
chain or cycle of parables in Matthew 13. It is found here only. Weiz
sacker finds in this parable a proof that the Gospel of Mark was not written
until after the Destruction of Jerusalem, when the delaying of the Parousia
had become evident. But the establishment of the kingdom is not at all
depicted here under the specific form of the Parousia, and nothing is said
at all about the delaying of it.
Stier has rightly said, “The self-inherent growth-power of the king¬
dom of God (as a whole, as well as in individuals) in its independence of
human care and labor,—this and nothing else is the theme."
Ver. 26. " And he said’', —Notice the omission of "to them", the
address probably being now to the people.
“The kingdom of God ",—This, says Meyer, is the Messianic king
dom conceived of as preparing for its proximate appearance and then (verse
29) appearing at its time.
“as if a man ",—This does not refer to Christ, as Gerlach maintains;
because the sleeping during the night is not applicable to Him, as is not
the expression “he knoweth not how”. Nor does it refer exactly to
Christ’s ministers, as the putting forth the sickle seems inapplicable to them.
The main point, however, is the seed with its self-inherent power, the
agent being quite in the background. The “man” therefore is anybody,
that is, just the farmer, the sower, the idea being only that of human
agency.
Ver. 27. “and should sleep and rise night and day”, —i. e., live as
usual without further care as to the seed sown.
“he knoweth not how ",—The growth of the seed depends upon a
mysterious power implanted by God within it. the working of which is
hidden from the human eye.
Ver. 28. “The earth beareth fruit of herself ",—i. e., without man’s
assistance. Says Alford, * No trouble of ours can accelerate the growth,
or shorten the stages through which each seed must pass." As a seed grows
according to a certain inherent law, so also does growth take place in the
362
26 And he said, So is the kingdom of
God, as if a man should cast seed upon
the earth; 2 7 and should sleep and rise
night and day, and the seed should
spring up and grow, he knoweth not
now. 28 The earth ‘beareth fruit of
'Or, yieldeth
MARK
kingdom of grace, i. e., in the kingdom of God in general and in the
individual.
"first the blade ", etc .,—A beautiful allusion to the succession of the
stages of growth. The maturity of the kingdom or of the individual does
not come at once. The lesson is one of patience. We must not lose heart
because of small beginnings.
Ver. 29. “when the fruit is ripe *,—The Greek may be rendered,
"when the fruit shall have yielded itself", or, according to the more usual
sense, "when the fruit alloweth", i. e., when it is ripe. The thought of
the independency of human agency is kept up.
“he putteth forth the sickle ’,—The sower reaps the benefit, though
God alone giveth the increase. Alford says there is a reference in this verse
to Joel 3.13.
Riddle says, "The parable possibly has a historical application; the
sowing referring to the institution of the Church by Christ; the intervening
period to His absence, during which the growth continues according to the
laws of the Spirit’s influence; and the harvest to His return."
Meyer says, "The teaching of the parable is: Just as a man, after
performing the sowing, leaves the germination and growth, without further
intervention, to the earth’s own power, but at the time of ripening reaps
the harvest, so the Messiah leaves the ethical results and the new develop¬
ment of life, which His word is fitted to produce in the minds of men. to
the moral self-activity of the human heart, through which these results
are worked out in accordance with their destination, but will, when the
time for the establishment of His kingdom comes, cause the righteous to
be gathered into it (by the angels, Matt. 24.31; these are the reapers, Matt.
13.39)."
Vers. 30-32. The PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED.
(See Matt. 13.31 and Luke 13.18.)
CHAPTER EIGHT
3 8 For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me and of my words in this adulter¬
ous and sinful generation, the Son of
man also shall be ashamed of him, when
he cometh in the glory of his Father
with the holy angels.
Ver. 38. The Disowner of Christ Disowned at His Coming.
The reference, says Meyer, is to the Parousia. "And as to this mighty
decision, how soon shall it emerge! (Chap. 9.1.)"
Here the reference to his own glory is omitted. In Luke 9.26 the
glory is threefold. His own, His Father’s, and His holy angels’.
"It can scarcely be doubted", says Oosterzee, "that the Saviour directs
His eye toward His last Parousia, at the end of the age. But before the
thought of its possibly great distance could weaken the impression of the
warning, He concludes with a nearer revelation of His kingly glory in
the first verse of the next chapter."
363
MARK
Says Godet, “All the several glories of the royal advent of Jesus will
be mingled together in the incomparable splendor of that great day (II
Thess. 1.7-10).” (See exposition on Luke 9.26.)
CHAPTER NINE
1 And he said unto them. Verily I
say unto you, There are some here of
them that stand by. who shall in no
wise taste of death, till they see the
kingdom of God come with power.
Ver. 1 . The Coming of the Lord in the Destruction of Jeru¬
salem.
(See exposition on Matt. 16.28 and Luke 9.27.)
Riddle says, “The coming referred to was probably at the day of
Pentecost, or the destruction of Jerusalem, and the consequent triumph of
Christianity.”
Says Meyer, “When in this place the coming of the kingdom is spoken
of, it is the same nearness of the Parousia that is meant as in Matt. 16.28;
not the constituting of the Church (Bl.), nor the emergence of the idea
of the kingdom into historical realization (Wei.), nor the triumph of
the Gospel (Schen.), and the like. With interpretations of this nature
the specification of time, pointing, as it does, to the term of the then exist¬
ing generation, is not at all in keeping.”
We are inclined to agree with Oosterzee when he says, “It cannot be
difficult to decide which coming of the Saviour He wished to be immediately
understood by this saying. He has here in mind, as in Matt. 26.64, the
revelation of His Messianic dignity at the desolation of the Jewish state,
which was to take place within a human generation.” But see our expo¬
sition on Matt. 16.28 and Luke 9.27.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
10 Blessed is the kingdom that
cometh, the kingdom of our father
David: Hosanna in the highest.
Ver. 10. The Kingdom Misinterpreted.
“the kingdom of our father David “,—Whatever may be said as to
what this kingdom is, it is certain that here the thing in mind was the out¬
wardly glorious kingdom toward which their carnal hopes were outwardly
directed,
Alford says, “The words clearly set forth the idea of the people that
the Messianic kingdom, the restoration of the throne of David, was come.”
The Lord was here recognized as the royal Messiah, who, as Riddle
says, was to restore the throne of David.
Lange says it refers to the kingdom of the Messiah as the spiritual
restoration of the kingdom of David, which kingdom of David was for
them a type of the Messianic one. The exact meaning of the word
“spiritual” at this place is difficult of appreciation. (See notes on “the
kingdom ” under Matt. 3.2.)
364
MARK
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
(For the exegesis of this entire Chapter see exposition under Matthew
24 and Luke 21.)
10 And the Gospel must first be
preached to all the nations.
Ver. 10. A Condition of His Coming.
Riddle says the sense is the same as in Matt. 24.1 4, as does also Meyer.
Says Riddle, "Their martyrdom would spread the Gospel, and this spread
should precede the end of the woes. A twofold fulfillment of this verse
is most probable." Riddle, Lange and Meyer are agreed in their explan¬
ation.
Says Olshausen, "In Matthew the expression is ' the Gospel of the
kingdom', which is the object of the glad tidings to be proclaimed by the
preachers; that message, however, is to be viewed as combining both the
external and the internal; only that here the connection naturally leads to
this, viz., that the proclamation would invite to receive the spirit of the
new living community, so that at the Parousia, when it shall appear in
between 9:00 P. M. and 6:00 A. M.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men
for my name’s sake: but he that en-
durerh to the end, the same shall be
saved.
Ver. 13. Redemption Through Endurance.
11 he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved”, —The endur¬
ance, says Lange, refers to the entire state of trial which they should pass
through faithfully, confessing His name, as the context implies. (R.
M. L.)
33 Take ye heed, watch ’and pray:
for ye know not when the time is. 34
It is as when a man, sojourning in an¬
other country, having left his house, and
given authority to his “servants, to each
one his work, commanded also the por¬
ter to watch. 35 Watch therefore: for
'Some ancient authorities omit and fray
2 rir. bond$fn>au(s
Vers. 33-37. WATCHFULNESS IN VIEW OF THE RETURN OF THE LORD.
This passage is peculiar to Mark, and contains in somewhat con¬
densed form the substance of Matt. 24.43-47.
Ver. 34. “commanded also the porter to watch ",—It would be the
office of the door-porter to look out for approaching travelers. The idea
here is that the injunction was given to him at the door just as the master
of the house was going away, i. e., the last thing he said. Does not this
point to the official duty of the ministers of religion?
Ver. 35. By “even” is meant 9:00 P. M.; by “midnight”, 12:00;
by “cockerowing”, 3:00 A. M., and by “morning”, 6:00 A. M. "These
periods", says Lange, "may denote the same unexpectedness:—the evening,
the evening of the old world (Matt. 20.8) ; the midnight, the frame of
ye know not when the lord of the
house cometh, whether at even, or at
midnight, or at cockcrowing. or in the
morning: 36 lest coming suddenly he
find you sleeping. 37 And what I say
unto you I say unto all, Watch.
365
LUKE
mind of the slumbering Church (Matt. 25.6) ; the cockcrow, the voice
of the watchers (Isa. 21.11) ; the morning, the dawn of Christ’s appear
ing, the breaking into day of the new world (Mai. 4.2).” (See Matt.
14.24.) The night-season Meyer thinks belong to the pictorial effect of
the parable, and is in keeping with the figurative “watch”, without exactly
expressing “a dark and sad time”, as Lange thinks. The coming, which
is to be unexpected and sudden, is pictured as taking place in the night
between 9:00 P. M. and 6:00 A. M.
Ver. 37. “I say unto all, Watch ”,—All believers, as well as the
Apostles and ministers of the Gospel, are to be incessantly watchful.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
25 Verily I say unto you, I shall no
more drink of the fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new in
the kingdom of God.
Ver. 25. (See exposition on Luke 22.16-18.)
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall
see the Son of man sitting at the right
hand of Power, and coming with the
clouds of heaven.
Ver. 62. (See exposition on Matt. 26.64 and Luke 22.69.)
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
LUKE
(A. D. 63—A. D. 68)
CHAPTER ONE
of his father David: 3 3 and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob 'for ever:
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
'Cir. unto the ages.
Vers. 32,33. Christ to be King Forever on David’s Throne.
Says Campbell Morgan, “Jesus will be King, in as direct and positive
a sense as any ruler the world has ever known, but with larger empire and
more autocratic sway. He will be Judge as well as King, and the final
Arbitrator in any disputes that may arise among men. The announce¬
ment made to Mary in these two verses concerning Jesus has never yet been
fulfilled, but will be when the time comes for His personal reign. He will
be the King of God’s ancient people gathered in Jerusalem; and through
them, the Governor of the whole earth.”
These words are but an echo of the sublime prediction of Isa. 9.6,7.
“he shall be called ”,—This expression signifies here that He shall be
universally recognized as such, and that because He is such in fact.
3 2 He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of Most High: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne
366
LUKE
“He shall be great” ,—What follows is an explanation to Mary of
this greatness, although a full explanation was scarcely possible.
“the Son of the Most High”, —Meyer rightly says this is a description
af His recognition as the Messiah, and as such the angel still more definitely
designates Him as the One to whom the throne of David is to be given.
The expression is not used in a metaphysical sense, but only in a theocratic
ane. Of course the expression denotes a personal and mysterious relation
between this child and the Divine Being, but had the notion of the pre-
Jxistence of Christ as the eternal Son of God been emphasized Mary could
lot have comprehended it, and Gerlach has very wisely remarked that
lad the proper divinity of her son been definitely revealed to Mary, neither
ihe nor Joseph would have been in a position to bring the child up.
The expression points to the anointed King, so long foretold by the
arophets, and to whom so fully apply the words of II Sam. 7.14; Psa. 2.7;
*9.28.
“the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David”,
—Says Alford, “This announcement makes it almost certain that Mary
tlso was of the house of David. No astonishment is expressed by her at
his part of the statement, and yet, from the nature of her question, it is
:lcar that she did not explain it by supposing Joseph to be the destined
: ather of her child."
In these words His Messiahship is distinctly made known. Mary,
vho was intimately acquainted with the Old Testament, would so under¬
stand them, especially in the light of such promises as II Sam. 7; Isa. 9;
vlicah 5, etc.
Says Godet, “These expressions in the mouth of the angel keep their
latural and literal sense. It is, indeed, the theocratic royalty and the
sraelitish people, neither more nor less, that are in question here; Mary
ould have understood these expressions in no other way. The unbelief
>f Israel foiled the plan, and subverted the regular course of history; so that
it the present day the fulfillment of these promises is still postponed to
he future."
Ver. 33. “over the house of Jacob”, —Mary no doubt understood
hese words literally according to the national expectation of the Jews.
“The house of Jacob”, says Meyer, is not, with Olshausen, Bleek
nd others, to be idealized into the “spiritual Israel". “The conception of
he kingdom in our passage", says this same expositor, “is Jewish-national,
vhich, however, does not exclude the dominion over the Gentiles accord-
ng to prophetic prediction."
Says Oosterzee, “The announcement of His universal spiritual reign
yould have been, at this time, even more incomprehensible to Mary; it
ies hidden, however, in the promise, 'Of His kingdom there shall be no
nd'. We must not therefore regard these words of the angel as an accom-
nodation merely to the exclusively Jewish expectations then prevailing
oncerning the kingdom of the Messiah."
of His kingdom there shall be no end”, —Riddle says, “This hints
t the universal spiritual reign of the Messiah. But the literal sense is also
orrect. Salvation is really of the Jews and will one day return to Israel."
367
LUKE
CHAPTER FOUR
16 And he came to Nazareth where
he had been brought up: and he entered,
as his custom was. into the synagogue
on the sabbath day, and stood up to
read. 17 And there was delivered unto
him ’the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And he opened the J book, and found
the place where it was written,
I 8 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
4 Because he anointed me to preach
“good tidings to the poor:
'Or, a roll
■Or, roll
• 1 fs. 61.1 f.
4 Or, Wherefore
"Or, (he gospel
Vers. 16-20. The Second Coming Set Forth by Implication.
The fact that Christ will yet one day come in judgment glory is as
clearly set forth by His actions on this occasion as if it had been expressly
here declared. Turn to the place from which the quotation comes and it
will be seen that in reading the passage from Isaiah 61.1,2 He omitted
the words, “And the day of vengeance of our God". There was no stop
after the words, “the acceptable year of the Lord”, in the roll from which
Jesus read, but, although He had come as well to procliam “the day of ven¬
geance of our God”, at the point indicated He ceased reading and closed the
book. Says Morgan, "In publicly reading the words of a Hebrew prophet
who hundreds of years before had foretold the coming of Christ, no one
else would have ended there, for Messiah’s work included the proclamation
of God’s day of vengeance. Christ’s immediate purpose, however, was to
indicate the first aspect of His mission, ' the acceptable year of the Lord’, as
then beginning in Himself. With equal certainty shall the Messiah once
more take up that old-time prophecy, and fulfill it to the letter as regards
'the day of vengeance of our God’ ”
CHAPTER NINE
He hath sent me to proclaim release
to the captives.
And recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty them that are
bruised.
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord.
20 And he closed the ‘book, and gave
it back to the attendant, and sat
down: and the eyes of all in the
synagogue were fastened on him.
26 For whosoever shall be ashamed
of me and of my words, of him shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he
cometh in his own glory, and the glory
of the Father, and of the holy angels.
Ver. 26. The Disowner of Christ Disowned at His Coming.
Ver. 26. " when he cometh”, —The reference is to His second com¬
ing, and the glory, says Meyer, is threefold, "His own, which He has of
and for Himself as the exalted Messiah; the glory of God which accom¬
panies him as coming down from God’s throne, and the glory of the angels
who surround Him with their brightness." (See Mk. 8.38.)
27 But I tell you of a truth. There
are some of them that stand here, who
shall in no wise taste of death, till they
see the kingdom of God.
Ver. 27. The Coming of the Lord in the Destruction of Jeru
SALEM.
“the kingdom of God”, —This is not a less definite expression but is
368
LUKE
a more simple one than that of Matthew and Mark, the reference being
the same, i. e., the kingdom of the Messiah—the Son of man coming in
His kingdom. (See Matt. 18.28.)
CHAPTER TEN
8 And into whatsoever city ye enter,
and they receive you, eat such things as
are set before you: 9 and heal the sick
that are therein, and say unto them. The
kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
10 But into whatsoever city ye shall
enter, and they receive you not, go out
into the streets thereof and say, 1 1 Even
the dust from your city, that cleaveth
to our feet, we wipe off against you:
nevertheless know this, that the king¬
dom of God is come nigh. 12 I say
unto you, It shall be mode tolerable in
that day for Sodom, than for that city.
Vers. 8-12. PARTICIPATION IN THE COMING KINGDOM THE REWARD OP
Christian Hospitality.
Ver. 9. “the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you’’, —A promise
of participation in the coming kingdom of the Messiah, which they con¬
ceived as being near at hand.
Ver. 1 1. “the kingdom of God is come nigh”, —This seems to be a
threatening reference to their penal exclusion from that kingdom.
Ver. 12. “in that day’’, —This may denote either the destruction of
Jerusalem or the last judgment. The two punishments are blended to¬
gether in this threatening of the Lord, as doubtless in that of John the Bap¬
tist in Chap. 3.9, yet the idea of the last judgment seems to be the pre¬
vailing one from what follows in verse 14.
CHAPTER TWELVE
come and serve them. 38 And if he
shall come in the second watch, and if
in the third, and find them so, blessed
are those servants. 39 'But know this,
that if the master of the house had
known in what hour the thief was
coming, he would have watched, and
not have left his house to be “broken
through. 40 Be ye also ready: for in
an hour that ye think not the Son of
man cometh.
E Or, But this ye know
3 Gr. digged, through
Vers. 35-40. CONSTANT EXPECTATION OF AND PREPARATION FOR THE
Lord's Coming.
Ver. 35. The connection is with verse 32, “It is your Father’s good
oleasure to give you the kingdom” ; let that free you from anxiety, but
let it also be the motive to labor and to watch for the King.
“Let your loins be girded about’’, —That there may be no delay in
Dpening the door, the faithful servant must have his loins girt about, with¬
out which by reason of the long, loose garments of the Orientals, activity
and service were impossible.
3 5 Let your loins be girded about,
and your lamps burning; 36 and be ye
yourselves like unto men looking for
their lord, when he shall return from
the marriage feast; that, when he cometh
and knocketh, they may straightway
open unto him. 37 Blessed are those
'servants, whom the Lord when he
cometh shall find watching: verily I say
unto you, that he shall gird himself, and
make them sit down to meat, and shall
‘Gr. bondservants
369
LUKE
"your lamps burning", —He must be in readiness for His master s
return in case he came at night. Both activity and watchfulness are
enjoined.
Ver. 36. "the marriage feast ",—The main thought here is only
that he is away at a feast and will return. The marriage in question is
not that of the master himself, but of a friend. (G. S. M.) The Master s
own marriage is after the Parousia.
Olshausen says the feast in question here is the heavenly marriage
feast, i. e., His union with the Church in heaven, from which He comes to
the marriage feast with His saints in the air. If this distinction is war
ranted, it is then after all the Master's own marriage feast to which
reference is made.
Ver. 37. "come and serve them", —John 13.1 was a foreshadowing
of this last great act of self-abasing love. The Lord Himself in the great
day of His glory—the marriage supper of the Lamb—will reverse the order
of human requirements and in the fullness of His grace and love will serve
His brethren.
Ver. 38. The four watches were: (1) 6:00 P. M. to 9:00 P. M..
(2) 9:00 P. M. to Midnight, (3) Midnight to 3:00 A. M., (4) 3:00
A. M. to 6:00 A. M.
Jesus does not mention the first watch because in this the marriage
feast took place; nor the fourth watch because so late a return would have
been unusual, and in this place contrary to the decorum of the events that
were represented. (M. A.) He does name the first watch because it would
weaken the whole representation of the watchful servants; nor does He
name the fourth watch simply for the reason that the Disciples from that
should understand that His return was by no means to be expected as late
as possible. “The Parousia does not come so quickly as impatience, nor
yet so late as carelessness supposes."
Farrar says, “It is very important to observe that often as our Lord
bade His Disciples to be ready for His return, He as often indicates that
His return might be long delayed. He always implied that He should
come suddenly, but not necessarily soon."
Godet says the parable teaches that the coming of Christ, the Parousia.
may be long delayed—much longer than the Disciples imagined—and that
this delay will be the means of testing their fidelity. The same thought,
he says, is found in Matt. 25.5, "tarried", and in Matt. 25.19, "after a
long time".
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
3 5 Behold your house is left unto
you desolate; and I say unto you. Ye
shall not see me, until ye shall say,
Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord.
Ver. 35. The Glad Welcome of Our Lord at His Second Coming.
(See Matt. 23.39.)
Some writers have said that the time pointed to here is Palm Sunday
370
LUKE
)n which Jesus received the homage of the people. (Wie. Pau. Era.
>chm. Stein.) But surely this is what Fausset calls a "frivolous inter¬
pretation”, and is unnaturalness itself.
ZHAPTER FOURTEEN
15 And when one of them that 'sat
at meat with him heard these things,
he said unto him. Blessed is he that
shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
M ir. ret line
/er. 15. Thh Kingdom Misunderstood.
"the kingdom of God", —The Messianic kingdom which was about
o be set up. The Jews connected the advent of the Messianic kingdom
vith banquets of food more delicious than manna, and as Riddle says,
'It is probable that the man hearing of the resurrection of the just, at once
hought of the great feast which the Jews expected would follow, and
hus spoke with the common Jewish idea that his admission to that feast
vas a certainty.”
:HAPTER SEVENTEEN
21 neither shall they say. Lo. here! or.
There! for lo, the kingdom of God is
'within you.
‘Or, in the midst of you
/ers. 20,21. The Kingdom in the Sense of a Present Reality.
Ver. 20. " being asked by the Pharisees", —Some say the question
vas a mocking one. (C. Pau. Kui. Eut. Theo.) But the more preferable
dew is that they asked the question with a view to entangle Him. (A. M.
3. R.)
"when the kingdom of God cometh", —They refer, of course, to the
ictual, external kingdom of the Messiah.
"not with observation", —There is no indication here of any refer-
nce to Jewish astrology, nor is the translation, "pomp” (Gro. Bez. Wet.)
t good one, as it conveys more than the text warrants.
Riddle says, "It will not be of such a character that men can see out-
vard tokens of preparation for it, and determine when it is to come.”
Oosterzee says, "Of this unnoticed coming of the kingdom of God the
Saviour could not well give any more striking proof than this, that the
tingdom of heaven had already in its incipiency appeared among them,
vithout their having even yet in their earthly-mindedness observed it.”
Ver. 21. "the kingdom of God is within you", —Godet says,
'Their question rested on a purely external view of this divine kingdom.
Tis advent appeared to their minds as a sudden and great dramatic act.
n the Gospel point of view this expectation is certainly not altogether
alse; but humanity must be prepared for the new external and divine state
>f things by a spiritual work wrought in the depths of the heart, and it is
20 And being asked by the Pharisees,
when the kingdom of God eometh. he
answered them and said. The kingdom
of God cometh not with observation:
371
LUKE
this internal advent which Jesus thinks good to put first in relief before
such questioners. Now that the kingdom is not established in a visible
way, it might happen that it should be present without men suspecting it.
And that this is exactly the case, Jesus is here represented as saying.’'
Olshausen says that the two aspects of the kingdom mutually com¬
plete each other; it shows itself spiritual in the beginning, but external in
its perfection; it appeared in its spiritual form within men’s hearts while
Jesus was here in humiliation; in its external manifestation it will reveal
itself at its final Parousia. (C. Ko. Vat. Chr. Era. Lut. Fri. Hil. Theo.
Gloe. Sche. Heub. Schau.)
Other commentators, indeed, Godet says, “almost all modern com¬
mentators”, explain the words in the sense of “in the midst of you”,
“among you”, “in your neighborhood”. (M. A. B. S. D. Ew. Bl. Fa. Oo.
Ca. Pau. Kui. Bez. Gro. Wol. Hof. Fie. Bor. Kae. Schlei.), and this read¬
ing is defended by Oosterzee as follows:
1. In this way the antithesis between the external coming and the
being already present is kept more sharply defined.
2. The kingdom of God was most certainly not within the hearts of
those Pharisees to whom Jesus was talking.
3. This same thought is expressed in another way in John 1.26:
12.35; Luke 7.16; 11.20, while on the other hand for the appar¬
ently profound, but really not very intelligible statement that the
kingdom of God is found within man no other proofs are to be
found in the words of our Lord.
4. This view is favored by the context and especially by the connec¬
tion. The kingdom was already in their midst, it having come
potentially into their neighborhood.
Alford stands strongly for “among you”, although he says that this
meaning includes of course the deeper and personal one, “within each of
you”, but the two are not controvertible.
Philologically either view is correct, although the rendering “among
you ’ is much to be preferred. In either case Jesus implied that His king¬
dom had already come while they were straining their eyes forward in
curious expectation.
22 And he said unto the disciples,
The days will come, when ye shall de¬
sire to see one of the days of the Son
of man, and ye shall not see it. 23
And they shall say to you, Lo, there!
Lo, here! go not away, nor follow after
them; 24 for as the lightning, when it
lighteneth out of the one part under the
heaven, shineth unto the other part
under heaven; so shall the Son of man
be *in his day. 25 But first must he
suffer many things and be rejected of
this generation. 26 And as it came to
pass in the days of Noah, even so shall
it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They ate, they drank, they married,
they were given in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered into the ark, and
*801116 ancient authorities omit in his day.
the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise even as it came to pass in
the days of Lot; they ate. they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted,
they builded; 29 but in the day that
Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire
and brimstone from heaven, and de¬
stroyed them all: 3 0 after the same
manner shall it be in the day that the
Son of man is revealed. 31 In that
day. he that shall be on the housetop,
and his goods in the house, let him not
go down to take them away: and let
him that is in the field likewise not
return back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.
3 3 Whosoever shall seek to gain his life
shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose
his life shall ’preserve it. 34 I say unto
2 Gr. save it alive.
372
LUKE
you, In that night there shall be two
men in one bed; the one shall be taken,
and the other shall be left. 35 There
shall be two women grinding together;
the one shall be taken, and the other
shall be left. 36 There shall be two
men in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other shall be left. 1 37
And they answering, say unto him,
Where, Lord? And he said unto them,
Where the body is, thither will the
4 eagles also be gathered together.
3 Some ancient authorities add ver. 36, There
shall be two men in the field', the one shall be
taken, and the other shall be left. Mt, 24, 40.
*Or, vultures.
Vers. 22-37. The Second Coming to be Sudden and Unexpected.
He now begins to speak of His kingdom in the sense that it will come
with observation, and He now addresses only His Disciples, the Pharisees
having probably withdrawn. He answers for the Disciples the question
of the Pharisees but carries them to the actual solemn appearing of the
Messiah in the Parousia.
Ver. 22. "one of the days of the Son of man", —Many give the
interpretation that the time was to come when they would long for another
day such as they were then enjoying when they had Christ with them.
(A. B. Kui.)
Others say it means that the time will come when they will long for a
day of the Messianic period, the period when Christ has returned, the age
to come, in order to refresh themselves by its blessedness. (M. O. D. L.
G. Bl. Oo. Gro.)
Oosterzee says that having said that the kingdom was already among
them, He feared perhaps that some of the Disciples might think that He
was therefore forever to remain with them, and "restore at that time the
kingdom of Israel", and He is led to tell them that He is going away and
that the days would come when they would long for His return and for a
single day of the blessedness which that return was to bring with it. This
latter is perhaps the better view of the matter, although there is really not
much difference after all between them; if the days referred to were after
He had left them, their longing would of course look forward to His
return, and yet it might be and doubtless would be for just such a day as
they were then enjoying that they would be looking forward to. This is
what they would long after, although the day when realized would be far
more glorious than any they had ever yet enjoyed.
"shall not see it", —Beause the day would not be there, the point of
time of the Parousia not yet having come.
There is a slight intimation here that in His mind the Parousia would
not come in their day.
Ver. 23. (See Matt. 24.36.) A warning to those who cry "Lo,
here" every time war breaks out.
Ver. 24. (See Matt. 24.27.)
The comparison seems to lie not in its unexpectedness but in its visi¬
bility, and it would seem to be an appearance that will manifest itself in a
moment and universally.
Godet says, “The Lord's coming will be universal and instantaneous.
373
LUKE
Men do not run here and there to see a flash of lightning. It shines simul
taneously on all points of the horizon. So the Lord will appear at the
same moment to the view of all living.”
"in his day” ,—The day of His Parousia.
Ver. 25. “of this generation”, —The reference is to the Jewish
contemporaries of Christ.
Vers. 26-30. (See Matt. 24.37.) The point of comparison is
surprise in the bosom of security.
Vers. 28, 29 are peculiar to Luke.
Ver. 30. ”in the day that the Son of man is revealed ”,—The day of
His Parousia.
Ver. 31. "In that day”, —It is difficult because of the connection
here to refer this to anything other than the day of His Parousia just men¬
tioned in the preceding verse. (G. R. M. Oo.) See Matt. 24.16-18.
where the same words are by nearly all writers applied to the destruction of
Jerusalem, although even there some (Gab.) have applied them to the
Parousia, as here. It will hardly do with Stier and De Wette to refer the
words here in Luke to the Destruction of Jerusalem and think of them as
unsuitably occurring in this place.
The reference is doubtless here to the catastrophe which immediately
precedes the Parousia, and which is described in Matt. 24.29-31.
”let him not go down”, etc .,—This indicates undelayed flight, but
not, says Meyer, “as in the flight at the Destruction of Jerusalem, but flight
for deliverance to the returning Messiah at the catastrophe which imme¬
diately precedes His Parousia, when nothing temporal should fetter their
interest”. This is seemingly favored by the example of Lot’s wife.
Oosterzee says, on the other hand, that the main thought is merely that
no temporal possessions ought to engage the interest when eternal good
must be won at any price.
Luke has been condemned for applying to the Parousia the counsel to
flee, but no such counsel is given according to either of the above two views.
Ver. 33. (See Chap. 9.24 and John 1 2.25.)
There are two views of the meaning of this verse:
1. The man who throughout his preceding life seeks to save his life
shall in the catastrophe just prior to the Parousia lose it.
2. The man who seeks to save his life during the catastrophe just
prior to the Parousia will at the moment of the Parousia lose it.
The first view is preferable and is favored by Matt. 10.39.
Godet very appropriately explains as follows: “To save one’s life by
riveting it to some object with which it becomes identified is the means
of losing it, of being left behind in this perishing world at the time of the
Parousia: to give one’s life by quitting everything at once is the only means
of saving it, by laying hold of the Lord who is passing.” Thus the saving
or the losing is fixed at the Parousia.
Ver. 34. ”In that night”, —There is no reason for thinking of the
night as an image of misery and taking the expression in a figurative sense
as meaning “in that time of calamity”. (Bl. Gro. Kui.)
374
LUKE
On the other hand it is not with De Wette to be pressed to the conclu¬
sion that the Parousia is definitely ordained to take place in the night.
The grinding at the mill is an occupation for the daytime. It matters
little anyway, because for one hemisphere it will be night; for the other
it will be day.
Vers. 35, 36. (See Matt. 24.40 and 41.)
The best authorities omit verse 36.
Ver. 37. “Where, Lord ’’,—The Pharisees had asked about the
time; now the Disciples ask about the place. They were doubtless entan¬
gled somewhat in the Jewish mistake that all descendants of Abraham
would, by virtue of the same, participate in the kingdom of the Messiah;
but now that Jesus had spoken so plainly of separation, they doubtless
think He is referring to the heathen world and certainly not to Jerusalem.
They utter surprise; "Where? Surely, Lord, this cannot be true of Judea,
of Jerusalem!" They did not understand the universality of the matter.
The Parousia is still the subject of the discourse, although in Matt.
24.28, we find precisely the same words and thought applied by nearly
all writers to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
In the Lord's answer the universality of this judgment is shown. He
simply says that where the corruption of death is, there will the Carrion-
Kites come. Jesus assigns moral and religious decay as the ground for
destruction, and in so far as this corruption had seized the people of Israel
they too were the subjects of destruction.
Godet says, "The carcass is humanity entirely secular and entirely
destitute of the life of God and the eagles represent punishment alighting
on such society."
Alford says that here in Luke the Parousia is the only subject, and
that this discourse is an entirely distinct one from that in Matthew where
the reference is to the Destruction of Jerusalem. He says it is entirely
distinct also from the discourse in Luke 21.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 And he spake a parable unto them
to the end that they ought always to
pray, and not to faint; 2 saying, There
was in a city a judge, who feared not
God. and regarded not man; 3 and
there was a widow in that city; and
she came oft unto him, saying. ‘Avenge
me of mine adversary. 4 And he would
not for a while; but afterwards he said
within himself. Though I fear not God.
nor regard man; 5 yet because this
‘Or, Do »t ,• justice of: ant] bo in ver. 5, 7, 8
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her,
‘lest she J wear me out by her continual
coming. 6 And the Lord said. Hear
what J the unrighteous judge saith. 7
And shall not God avenge his elect, that
cry to him day and night, r ‘and yet he is
longsufTering over them? 8 I say unto
you, that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of man
cometh. shall he find r faith on the earth?
‘Or. lest nt Inst by her coining she wear me
O'fi
a Or. bruise
4 ( «r. the judge oj unrighteousness
‘Or, nud is he slow to -punish on their behalf?
“Or. the inith
Vers. 1-8. The Loss of Faith Through the Delay or the Lord’s
Coming.
This parable is not an addition inserted without a motive. (Ko.
375
LUKE
Holt.), nor arc there any intervening dialogues omitted (O. Schlei.), but it
follows naturally after the thought of what precedes about the Parousia.
Ver. 1. The parable was spoken to His Disciples.
"always to pray", —Compare II Thess. 5.17, which refers to the be¬
liever's prevailing frame of mind (Prayer as the breath of the inner man.
O.), which kind of prayer Olshausen and Alford think is referred to here,
but it is much better to refer it to the unwearied petition for the same
object believed to be in accordance with the will of God. (R. F. M.)
"not to faint ",—We are not to become discouraged and give up
through the weight of overpowering evil.
Ver. 2. The expressions describing the judge are those indicating an
unprincipled and depraved and reckless person. The thought is, “Were
God like this judge He could not resist the prayers of the Church; how
much less, being what He is?”
Ver. 3. " there tvas a widow", —The widow represents the Church,
although there is an individual application to be found in the parable as
well. (A. M. G. R. O. Oo.)
The Old Testament always demanded protection for the widow.
The condition of the Church after the Lord’s departure is like that of a
widow, and of a widow deprived of her rights.
“Avenge we of wine adversary", —The justice of her cause is im¬
plied throughout. She wants a sentence from the judge to stop the prac
tices of her adversary. The word “ avenge" does not include so much
the notion of vengeance, as of justice rendered to the oppressed. The
margin of the Revised Version really catches more of the spirit of the
entreaty.
Ver. 4. "for a while", —Not necessarily for a long time, and yet it
is an indefinite indication of the comparatively long time during which all
entreaty might appear in vain in the day of the tribulation, days which
must be spent in prayer and which will reach an end as surely as the
widow’s trial. (Matt. 24.32,33.)
Ver. 5. "lest she wear we out by her continual cowing" ,—“lest at
last by her coming she wear me out” is the better reading. (A-R-V. M.
G. O. S.) This gives the more actual meaning of the word translated
"continual" by both the Authorized and Revised Versions. Bleek and
some others take the verb "wear out" in its literal sense and render, “Lest
at last she come and beat my face black and blue”. The Dutch translation
is, “come and break my head’’. Very few, however, adhere to the literal
sense.
Vers. 6,7. While there is in a sense an individual application, the
main application is to the elect as a collective body, with reference to the
final release from the days of sorrow at the return of the Lord. The poor
widow is the Church, contending with her adversary, the Devil, and in
this case she has the additional claim in that she is the elect of God.
376
LUKE
'‘yet he is longsuffering over them", —That the word "them" refers
to the elect there can be no doubt, but it is not absolutely necessary to refer
the "longsuffering" to them as well.
1. The verb really means "to be slow to punish", and would there¬
fore seem to have for its object, not the elect, but their oppressors.
(A. M. G. R. B. Ew.)
But why this longsuffering toward their enemies?
(a) For the sake of allowing His elect time for more perfect sanc¬
tification. (B. Ew.)
(b) For the sake of the oppressors themselves. (Romans 2.4.)
(G.)
Alford renders, "And yet in their case He is longsuffering’’, i. e., over
their enemies.
Riddle renders, "Though He delays His vengeance on their account."
Meyer renders it as a qustion, "And in their case does He tarry", i. e., delay
to take vengeance on their enemies? The negative answer is implied.
2. On the other hand the "longsuffering" is referred to the elect.
(S. O. Oo. Fa.)
The first two authorities, just quoted, give the verb the exceedingly
refined meaning of "delay", which, says Olshausen, is implied in the mean¬
ing of "longsuffering" , the object of which delay is the purification of the
elect.
Oosterzee renders, "And is it His way with reference to the elect to
delay His help?" He says the idea is not forbearance toward the elect,
which is here not at all in place; nor is it that He for their sakes postpones
His punishment of their oppressors, which though a truth, is not taught
here; but He is simply saying that God cannot to the last withhold a help
for which His elect so earnestly prayed.
The fact of the matter is that the Lord does delay His coming, at
which time He will take vengeance on the enemies of the elect, and the
purpose of this delay is both that the enemies may have time to repent
(Rom. 2.4), and the elect time for sanctification; and yet we are hardly
justified in reading all this into the one word "longsuffering" used in this
case.
If, however, the root meaning of the words "slow to punish" be
emphasized here and the word be referred accordingly to the enemies of the
elect, the purpose of this delay or longsuffering may best, in view of the
construction, the context and the preposition used, be referred to the puri¬
fication of the elect.
Yet it is not wise to unduly press the root-meaning of the verb, in as
much as a modified meaning in a Greek verb is quite as much the rule as
otherwise, and in view of the evident thought of the passage and the simple
construction of the words, it seems altogether best to take the word in
that refined sense of delay given to it by Olshausen and Stier, and this with
a view to the spiritual betterment of the elect themselves.
Ver. 8. "avenge them speedily ",—This doubtless refers to the
shortness of time before the deliverance is to take place (M. R. A. Oo. Fa.),
rather than to the suddenness with which the deliverance takes place when
it does come. (O. S. G.)
377
LUKE
Meyer says it declares the speedy advent of the Parousia and-that it is
vain to weary oneself and twist about in the vain attempt to explain away
this simple meaning of the words.
Riddle says this avenging is still future after eighteen centuries, but
however long delayed in man's estimation, the Day of the Lord will
quickly come as God regarded it.
"when the Son of man cometh ”,—There is not the least reason for
understanding any other here than the last coming of the Son of man.
(M. O. R. G. Oo.)
‘'shall he find faith on the earth ”,—It is literally, "the faith". Not
some faith in general; not faith that Jesus is the Messiah (M.) ; nor does
it refer, as DeWettc says, to the faithfulness of His Disciples in general, as
in Chap. 12.35-48, but it is such a faith as the widow had, faith in God
as a righteous Judge, which on account of the delay of the Parousia and
of the hearing of their prayer, will sustain a severe conflict. (A. R. P. S.
G. O. Oo. Fa.)
The special form of faith therefore which will be lacking is faith in
the return of the Lord as evidenced by the lack of importunate prayer
for the hastening of that event.
There is a certain intimation of doubt on the Saviour’s part that He
will find this faith at His Parousia. (M. G. R. Oo.)
CHAPTER NINETEEN
11 And as they heard these things,
he added and spake a parable, because
he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because
they supposed that the kingdom of God
was immediately to appear. 12 He said
therefore, A certain nobleman went into
a far country, to receive for himself a
kingdom, and to return. 13 And he
called ten ‘servants of his, and gave them
ten ‘pounds, and said unto them, Trade
ye herewith till I come. 14 But his citi¬
zens hated him, and sent an ambassage
after him, saying, We will not that this
man reign over us. 15 And it came to
pass, when he was come back again,
having received the kingdom, that he
commanded these ’servants, unto whom
he had given the money, to be called to
him, that he might know what they
had gained by trading. 16 And the
first came before him. saying, Lord, thy
pound hath made ten pounds more. 1 7
And he said unto him. Well done, thou
good Servant- because thou wast found
faithful in a very little, have thou
authority over ten cities. 18 And the
second came, saying. Thy pound. Lord,
hath made five pounds. 1 9 And he said
'Or. bondservants
-Mina here translated a pound is equal to
one hundred drachmas. See Chap. 15.8.
3 Gr. bondservant
unto him also, Be thou also over five
cities. 20 And ‘another came, saying.
Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which
1 kept laid up in a napkin: 21 for 1
feared thee, because thou art an austere
man: thou takest up that which thou
layedst not down, and reapest that
which thou didst not sow. 22 He said
unto him. Out of thine own mouth
will I judge thee, thou wicked Servant.
Thou knewest that I am an austere man,
taking up that which I laid not down,
and reaping that which I did not sow:
2 3 then wherefore gavest thou not my
money into the bank, and “I at my
coming should have required it with
interest? 24 And he said unto them
that stood by, Take away from him the
pound, and give it unto him that hath
ten pounds. 25 And they said unto
him, Lord he hath ten pounds. 26 I
say unto you, that unto every one that
hath shall be given; but from him that
hath not. even that which he hath shall
be taken away from him. 27 But
these mine enemies, that would not that
I should reign over them, bring them
hither, and slay them before me.
■*Or. the other
'’Or. / should have gone and required
378
LUKE
Vers. 11-27. The Parable of the Pounds and the Postponed
Kingdom.
Calvin, Meyer and Olshausen say this is the same parable as the one
found in Matt. 25. But if this be true, then we must give up the idea
of the historical accuracy of the Gospels and all idea that they furnish us
with an accurate account of the words of our Lord. They are different
parables altogether. That of Matthew is more complete and was ad¬
dressed to the Disciples alone. The parable in Luke was the earlier of the
two and probably furnished to the Lord’s mind the ground-work for the
later one in Matthew.
There is a close relation between the preceding conversation and this
parable, the parable being given, as Riddle says, to controvert the idea that
the kingdom would be set up at once without a previous separation of the
Master from His servants to whom He would return as King.
Chap. 17.34 shows that the Disciples were as yet by no means cured
of their earthly Messianic hopes. They imagined that the present journey
to Jerusalem, undertaken as it had been with such publicity and accom¬
panied with such wonderful miracles, was for the purpose of revealing and
setting up the Messianic kingdom.
Ver. 11. "they”, —Not the Disciples exclusively, but more espec¬
ially the murmurers of verse 7, although the Disciples may have been
included and doubtless were.
"these things” ,—The reference is to the things heard in verses 8, 9
and 10.
"kingdom of God ivas immediately to appear”, —The same excited
anticipation which the Disciples had after the resurrection of Jesus. (Acts
1.6 and 7.)
"appear”, —Literally, “come to light”. The people think of the
glorious setting up of the Messianic kingdom in which they had always
believed, the palpable, sensuous kingdom that was now to be set up inas¬
much as the Son of man was come.
Ver. 12 . "nobleman” , —This represents the Lord Jesus and a cer¬
tain intimation of His kingly descent and dignity.
"went into a far country ”,—Archaleus, one of the governors, had
just made such a journey to Rome to receive appointment by the Emperor,
and perhaps from this Jesus drew His illustration. Jesus was of course
going to heaven.
far country”, —Godet and Olshausen say the words suggest the long
absence that would intervene between the departure of the Lord and His
return at the Parousia, and that Christ was trying to show that His
Parousia was not so near at hand.
Baur and Zeller say these words remove the Parousia beyond the life¬
time of that generation, but Meyer objects to this because the return has to
do with the same servants. There is not a great deal of force in the objec¬
tion of Meyer because the setting of the parable could have taken no other
form. That there is a certain intimation of long absence it would seem
necessary to grant.
379
LUKE
"to receive a kingdom”, —The installation of Jesus into His kingly
power. The going to receive a kingdom was not going to receive a king¬
dom which was in heaven, but a going there to receive His crown and to
return to his kingdom here. Jesus is coming back.
Ver. 13. “ten pounds”, —One pound to each servant, about $15.00.
In Matthew He committed His whole property to His servants, but
here only a slight gift. The giving of so small an amount corresponds to
what is so carefully emphasized in the parable, i. e., the relation of faithful¬
ness in the least to the largeness of reward for the same. It was given as a
test of fidelity.
The best reading gives the idea of "while I am on my journey" in¬
stead of " till 1 come”, and yet this does not fully bring out the sense of the
word, which means "come". It really means "while I am coming", and
pictures His coming as a constant one, somewhat in keeping with the idea
in Matt. 26.64, according to which passage His ascension was the first step
in His return and He has always been returning ever since.
Ver. 14. The kingdom referred to in verse 12 is that over His own
citizens, the Jews. Here in this verse “him” in each case, and " this man”
refers to Jesus, and the verse describes the resistance of the Jews to the
Messianic sovereignty which still continues to this day. The citizens of
this verse must not be confounded with the servants of verse 13.
Ver. 15. Before He deals with the citizens, His enemies, He will
first take an accounting with His servants.
“what they had gained by trading”, —The idea is rather, "what busi¬
ness they had carried on". It was not so much the amount gained but the
thought of fidelity to their trust that was in the mind of the Lord.
Ver. 16. “thy pound”, —In deep humility the servants acknowledge
that the gain was not their own but the Lord’s; therefore they say, “thy
pound”. In Matthew's parable the trust was according to ability, but
here it is the same in every case. In Matthew the gain was in proportion
to the trust (five talents gained other five), but here the proportion was on
a larger scale, the one pound gaining ten others, etc.
Ver. 17. “have thou authority over ten cities”, —The reward is
proportioned to the gain and corresponds with the kingly dignity of the
returned Lord. At the coming of the Lord, at the Parousia, each servant
will share in the power of his Master, now become a King, in proportion
to his activity during the time of his probation. Faithfulness in the
smallest way becomes the source of inexhaustible blessing.
Ver. 20. This servant doubtless argued that if he lost the pound
he would be punished for it, and if he gained anything by investing it his
lord would come and pluck the fruit, and thus strengthened in his natural
slothfulness he remained idle and met his lord with the answer of this and
the next verse.
Ver. 21. (See Matt. 25.24,25 for the same excuse.) A typical de¬
scription of injustice forbidden alike by the Jewish and the Greek law.
380
LUKE
Ver. 22. "out of thine own mouth ",—The Lord does not concede
that he is a hard man, but only refutes the idle servant on the position he
himself had so arbitrarily taken.
Ver. 23. "into the bank ",—Literally this means "on a banker's
table". It is not "the" bank, and this, says Riddle, opposes the view that
the bank represents the Church and the putting of the pound there as a
resignation of his office. Godet says the reference is to prayer, i. e., why
did you not avail yourself of divine omnipotency by prayer? But this is
mere surmise. It means just what it says.
Ver. 24. "them that stood by ",—Not the other servants (Kui.),
but the attending officers who surround Him when He appears in majesty.
"the ten pounds ",—The pounds mentioned in verse 1 6. The pound
was given to the servant who had shown himself the most active.
Ver. 23. This by many is considered parenthetical. (A. M. Oo.
Ew. Fa. Lach.) It gives the king occasion to more particularly give the
reason for his severe determination.
Ver. 26. (See Matt. 25.29.)
Ver. 27. "enemies "—The citizens of verse 14.
This strong expression sets forth the hopelessness and the severity
of the judgment that shall fall upon the enemies of Christ. It was spoken
as in verse 24 to his attending officers. His enemies, although absent, are
spoken of as present in the idea of the speaker and the hearers.
It doubtless has its primary reference to the Jewish nation, and then
a wider one to the opposing world; being a figure first of the punishment
which fell upon Jerusalem, and secondly of that which is to follow at the
judgment when He comes again. (R. A. G.)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
5 And as some spake of the temple,
how it was adorned with goodly stones
and offerings, he said, 6 As for these
things which ye behold, the days will
come, in which there shall not be left
here one stone upon another, that shall
not be thrown down. 7 And they asked
him. saying, Teacher, when therefore
shall these things be? and what shall be
the sign when these things are about
to come to pass? 8 And he said, Take
heed that ye be not led astray: for many
shall come in my name, saying, I am he\
and, The time is at hand: go ye not
after them. 9 And when ye shall hear
of wars and tumults, be not terrified:
for these things must needs come to pass
first: but the end is not immediately.
10 Then said he unto them. Nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom; 11 and there shall be
great earthquakes, and in divers places
famines and pestilences; and there shall
be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 But before all these things, they shall
lay their hands on you, and shall per¬
secute you, delivering you up to the
synagogues and prisons, bringing you
before kings and governors for my
name’s sake. 1 3 It shall turn out unto
you for a testimony. 14 Settle it there¬
fore in your hearts, not to meditate be¬
forehand how to answer: 15 for I will
give you a mouth and wisdom, which
all your adversaries shall not be able to
withstand or to gainsay. 16 But ye
shall be ^delivered up even by parents,
and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends:
and some of you a shall they cause to be
put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated
of all men for my name s sake. 18 And
not a hair of your head shall perish.
1 Gr. you being brought
2 Or, betrayed
3 Or, shall they -put to death
381
LUKE
19 In your patience ye shall win your
’’souls. 20 But when ye see Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that
her desolation is at hand. 21 Then let
them that are in Judsa flee unto the
mountains; and let them that are in the
midst of her depart out; and let not
them that are in the country enter
therein. 2 2 For these are days of ven¬
geance, that all things which are writ¬
ten may be fulfilled. 23 Woe unto
them that are with child and to them
that give suck in those days! for there
shall be great distress upon the °land,
and wrath unto this people. 24 And
they shall fall by the edge of the
sword, and shall be led captive into all
the nations: and Jerusalem shall be
trodden down of the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 2 5
And there shall be signs in sun and
moon and stars; and upon the earth dis¬
tress of nations, in perplexity for the
roaring of the sea and the billows; 26
men 'fainting for fear, and for expecta¬
tion of the things which are coming
on s the world: for the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken. 2 7 And then
*Or, s/rd fastness
’Or. lives
‘‘Or. earth
‘Or. expirh/x
x t»r. the inhabited earth
Vers. 5-36. The DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FORETOLD.
In this discourse Luke seemingly contemplates exclusively the Destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem.
Ver. 8. (See Matt. 24.5.)
“the time is at hand”, —The time meant is the time of the establish¬
ment of the Messianic kingdom. These are not the words of Jesus, but of
the many false prophets. (M. A. R.)
Ver. 9. (See Matt. 24.6 and 7.) (See also Meyer on II Cor. 6.5.)
“be not terrified”, —This refers perhaps to the temptation of pre
mature flight.
Ver. 10. Jesus could here have easily passed to verse 20. but after
these preliminary warnings He preferred to enter a bit more upon the
further description of the impending judgment.
Ver. 1 1. “terrors and great signs from heaven ',—The “terrors” as
well as the “great signs’ belong to “from heaven ". Godet thinks of
meteors, eclipses, etc., to which was readily attached a prophetic significance.
For seven and a half years it is said that Jesus, the son of Hanan, cried.
“Woe, woe, woe”. Strange rumors were afloat, of monstrous births, of
the vast brazen temple gates suddenly opening, of a sword shaped comet
appearing in the heavens, and of fierce, fiery warriors fighting upon the
clouds, all of which things the blind multitude would interpret in their
own favor.
sh-11 they see the Son of man coming
in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 But when these things begin to come
to pass, look up, and lift up your
heads: because your redemption draweth
nigh. 29 And he spake to them a
parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the
trees: 30 when they now shoot forth,
ye see it and know of your own selves
that the summer is now nigh. 31 Even
so ye also, when ye see these things
coming to pass know ye that the king¬
dom of God is nigh. 32 Verily I say
unto you. This generation shall not pass
away, till all things be accomplished.
3 3 Heaven and earth shall pass away:
but my words shall not pass away. 34
But take heed to yourselves lest haply
your hearts be overcharged with sur¬
feiting. and drunkenness, and cares of
this life, and that day come on you sud¬
denly as a snare: 3 5 for so sha\l it come
upon all them that dwell on the face
cf the earth. 3 6 But watch ye at every
season, making supplication, that ye may
prevail to escape all these things that
shall come to pass, and to stand before
the Son of man.
382
LUKE
Ver. 1 2. The best comment on this verse is found in Acts 4.3; 5.17-
41 and other such passages.
Ver. 13. " for a testimony ",—It would give them an opportunity
to testify for their Lord. (R. A. M. G. L.) This in itself is regarded as
something great and honorable. (Phil. 1.28.)
Ver. 18. " And not a hair of your head shall perish", —This verse,
which seems to contradict the last part of verse 16, means, according to
Lange, that they were not to perish as long as they were needed on the
earth in the service of the Lord. Godet explains it, that while some indi¬
viduals were to perish, the community as a whole was to escape the exter¬
mination which was to overtake the Jewish people.
It is far better to explain it in a spiritual sense rather than in a literal
sense. (R. A. M. O. Fa.)
Ver. 19. "in your patience", —Your patient endurance of these
things.
"win your souls", —By embracing the means which seems the way to
lose everything they shall save themselves. Jeremiah says, "I will give
thee thy life for a prey"
Ver. 20. "When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies", —This
verse gives the direct answer of Jesus to the question of the Disciples. Up
to now Jesus has been warning believers not to give way to hasty measures;
now He guards them against the fanatical delusions of the Jews who
to the end will cherish the belief that God will not fail to save Jerusalem;
but, No, says Jesus, Jerusalem is doomed; "When ye see", etc .
Luke is writing for the Gentiles, and therefore he does not mention
:he prophecy of Daniel, as do Matthew and Mark, but speaks merely of its
: ulfillment.
Godet says that he sees nothing to hinder us from regarding this sign
is identical in sense with that announced by Matthew and Mark in the
vords of Daniel, "the abomination of desolation standing in the holy
ilace".
Olshausen says that the most consistent hypothesis is that reference is
nade to some form of idolatrous worship; but the difficulty is to fix upon
mything definite because the historical accounts respecting the attempts
nade to introduce it afford us so very little real satisfactory information
ibout it.
Ver. 21. "them that are in Judea", —The Christians.
"her", —Jerusalem.
"them that are in the country" ,—Christians who are in the fields
ound about. (M. O. L. A. Fa.) The reference is hardly to the Provinces.
D. Bret.)
Ver. 22. "days of vengeance" ,—Days in which the Lord accom¬
plishes His judgments upon His enemies.
"that all things which are written may be fulfilled" ,—The prophecy
»f Daniel is meant along with the rest.
383
LUKE
Ver. 23. " Woe unto them that are with child”, etc., — (Sec Matt.
24.19.)
"upon the land”, —This is referred by Meyer, Alford and others to
the land in general, while “wrath upon this people” is referred by the same
authorities to the Jews of Judea in particular. If the first is general, then
the particular reference is of course to be found in the second expression.
Riddle and Godet more accurately refer both phrases to Judea and the Jews.
Ver. 24. “led captive into all the nations”, —The whole world was
open to them, but henceforth the Holy City was closed against them. A
million perished, while ninety-seven thousand were taken prisoners and
dragged into Egypt and her provinces.
“trodden down”, —This refers to the oppression and contempt which
always follows conquest. This has been true during all the ages since.
“until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”, —This shows that after
the fall of Jerusalem there is still a period of indefinite duration to be
waited.
In the use of the plural “times” Lange sees a long interval of time
intimated. But from this alone the idea of long duration is not to be
concluded, there being no particular significance in the use of the plural
form, it having doubtless been used because the Gentiles are in the plural,
i. e., nations.
There are two views of the meaning of this passage:
1. Some say it refers to the appointed time of Gentile dominion over
Jerusalem, i. e., until the Gentiles shall have finished this judgment
of wrath. (M. O. L. S. Bl.)
But with regard to this view it may be said:
(a) The words contain no express information respecting the
relation of Israel to the Gentiles at the termination of their
power over her.
(b) It would be tautology to say, “Jerusalem shall be trodden
down by the Gentiles until the time of Gentile dominion
comes to an end."
(c) If there is any significance at all in the use of the plural
“times”, this view does not account for it.
(d) It does not account for the choice of the Greek word for
“times” (kairos), which means opportunity, instead of the
word “kronos" which means merely a space of time.
2. The second explanation, which for the reason just noted it seems
best to accept, is that it refers to the period of grace during which
the Gospel is offered to the Gentiles. (G. B. R. A. Eb. Fa.)
Olshausen says, “The time of the conversion of the Gentiles is not
the period referred to. The Lord here does not speak of the Gentiles in so
far as they are the object of Divine favor, but so far as they are used ns.
instruments in the divine government of the world." The proof, how¬
ever, which Olshausen attempts to produce is, we feel, quite too scanty.
The inference, of course, may be a legitimate one, but it would seem best
not to read anything into the passage.
384
LUKE
Riddle says that opinions differ as to whether this dispensation of the
Gentiles implies their conversion to Christ or their rejection of Him. He
says, “All analogy points to the former and subsequent prophesies con¬
firm this view.”
But after all the question raised by Riddle does not enter into the
discussion here; other Scriptures must settle this.
Alford is doubtless nearer the truth when he says that it refers to the
fulfillment of the Gentile dispensation just as the time of Jerusalem was
the end, the fulfillment of the Jewish dispensation, and that it more likely
refers to the rejection of Christ by the Gentile world which answers to His
rejection by the Jews.
Ver. 25. It is purely arbitrary to assert, as Meyer and De Wette do,
that Luke, writing after the Destruction of Jerusalem, omits for this
reason the “immediately" of Matthew, as he necessarily must do. For
this reason, says Meyer, Luke could not link the Parousia onto the Destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem, as Matthew and Mark did, by means of the word “im¬
mediately", Jesus is simply stating what shall take place after the times
of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, i. e., what shall take place before His
Parousia. (R. A. M. G. Oo.) This is plainly enough indicated by the
consecutive “and".
The signs are to be taken literally in keeping with the Old Testament
representations and descriptions elsewhere, and allegorically or metaphori¬
cally; the eclipse of nations and the downfall of potentates (Fa.) ; the sun
meaning Antichrist (Starke), the moon meaning antichristian teachers
(Besser), and the roaring sea, the tumult of nations (Fa.).
Ver. 26. “fainting for fear", —The margin has "expiring”, and
Meyer renders, “giving up the ghost” as corresponding more to the progres¬
sive coloring of the description. “Fainting", however, is a permissible
rendering.
Ver. 27. (See Matt. 24.30.)
Godet says. "It is not said that the Lord shall return to the earth to
remain there. This coming can only be a momentary appearance destined
to effect the resurrection of the faithful and the ascension of the entire
Church (I Cor. 15.23; Luke 17.31-35; I Thess. 4.1 6,17).” Godet, like
most pre-millennial expositors, makes no provision for any period between
the Lord's coming for His saints and His coming with them, and conse¬
quently refers the redemption of verse 28 and the elect of Matt. 24.31 to
the saints in general, and not to the elect of Israel, as do Scofield, Petingill,
Gaebelein and others.
Ver. 28. “these things", —The appearances of verse 25 and the facts
mentioned in verse 26.
“look up, and lift up your heads" ,—Their heads until then are to be
bowed down under affliction.
“your redemption draweth nigh", —It is brought to them by the
appearing, the Second Coming of their Lord. (M. A. G. R. O. Oo.)
A few have thought that Jesus here returns to the principal subject
of the Chapter, the Destruction of Jerusalem. The deliverance would
385
LUKE
then be the emancipation of the Jewish-Christian Church from the perse¬
cuting Jewish power, the coming of the kingdom of God (verse 31) would
refer to the propagation of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and “this gen¬
eration shall not pass away” would indicate quite naturally the date of the
Destruction of Jerusalem. Yet there is no evidence whatever for this
departure from the subject of the Parousia at this point, and this subject
is quite too solemn when once mentioned to be treated as a purely accessory
idea.
Vers. 29,30. The reviving of the Jewish nation is to be taken as a
sign of the near approach of the Parousia of Christ. (See Matt. 24.32.)
Ver. 31. “the kingdom of God is nigh”, —The Messianic kingdom
to be established at the time of Christ’s Parousia.
Vers. 32,33. (See Matt. 24.34 and 33.)
Ver. 34. “overcharged with surfeiting”, —This is referred by
Oosterzee to heaviness such as drunkenness of yesterday gives. “Drunken¬
ness” makes them unfit for today, and “cares of life” plague them for
tomorrow.
Ver. 33. It is to be a universal judgment, a universal surprise. The
idea of “sitting securely” is implied in the word “dwell”.
Ver. 36. “at every s?ason” ,—Some join this expression to “watch”,
some to “making supplication”, and some to both.
“escape all these things”, —The reference is to the calamities con¬
nected with the coming of the Lord; the Parousia itself no one can escape.
“stand before the Son of man”, —This does not exactly mean to
stand before Him acquitted in the judgment (Kui. Bez. Gro. Era.), but
the rather gathered there by the angels in the presence of the glorified Son
of man where they are to stand erect. In fact it does not refer to a coming
into judgment but standing fearlessly and composed before His throne to
view Him, to serve and glorify Him, which is both the beginning and the
substance of the highest happiness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
16 for I say unto you. 1 shall not
eat it. until it be fulfilled in the king¬
dom of God.
18 for I say unto you, I shall not
drink from henceforth of the fruit of
the vine, until the kingdom of God shall
come.
Vers. 16,18. The Lord’s Kingdom, at His Return, under the
Image of a Feast.
Ver. 16. “I shall not eat of it ”,—Most authorities very properly
read into the words the meaning, “I shall not eat of it any more”, because
all admit that Jesus did eat of that Passover. What He means is that He
would eat of it now, but never again until, etc. The strong desire of the
Lord to eat of this Passover may be explained from Chap. 12.30.
“until it (the Passover) be fulfilled in the kingdom of God”, —The
Lord sees in the paschal celebration a symbolic setting forth of the perfect
386
LUKE
joy in the Messianic feast of the future alluded to in verse 30 and in Matt.
27.29, and taking place at the Parousia.
Oosterzee says very properly, "To wish to conclude now from this
that the Lord expects a literal Passover at the revelation of His divine king¬
dom is purely arbitrary, since it is plain enough that He here, as often,
describes the joy of the perfected Messianic kingdom under the image of a
feast. The Passover is only fulfilled when the outer form, the Passover
celebration, is entirely broken down and the eternal idea, the perfect feast
of deliverance, is realized."
The impersonal view which makes it mean "until the establishment
of the kingdom is brought about" (Pau. B-C), is purely an evasion
opposed by the context; while the rationalistic interpretation, "you shall
hereafter enjoy with me in heaven more intimate and supreme joy" (Kui.),
is purely arbitrary.
Ver. 18. " until the kingdom of God shall come”, —This points to
the same event as in verse 16.
Alford says the words of these two verses carry on the meaning and
continuance of this eucharistic ordinance even into the new heavens and
the new earth. He quotes Thiersch as most excellently saying, "The
Lord's supper points not only to the past but to the future also. It has
not only a commemorative, but a prophetic meaning. In it we have not
only to shew forth the Lord's death, until He come, but we have also to
think of the time when He shall come to celebrate His holy supper with
His own, new, in His Kingdom of Glory. Every celebration of the Lord's
Supper is a foretaste and a prophetic anticipation of the great Marriage
Supper which is prepared for the Church at the second appearing of Christ."
Says Riddle, "He is done with earthly rites, and at this sad moment
points them to a future reunion at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb."
(Scha.)
In both Matthew and Mark it reads, t( when I drink it new”, and
Meyer thinks the reference is to a newness different in respect of quality, as
Bengel says, "it indicates evidently a peculiar newness".
"This conception of the new Passover wine", says Meyer, "which is
to be the product of the coming aeon and of the glorified creation, is con¬
nected with the idea of the renewal of the world in view of the Messianic
kingdom."
Riddle gives the word “new” something of an adverbial sense, i. e.,
"on some peculiar and exalted festal occasion".
‘‘until the kingdom of God shall come”, —Matthew reads, ‘‘until
that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom”, while
Mark reads, " until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God ”.
(See also the 16th verse in Luke’s rendering, " until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God”.
The expression, says Meyer, can only be intended to designate the
kingdom of the Messiah. Riddle says it points to the time of the Church
triumphant, and our continued celebration of it is an expression of assured
victory on the part of His militant Church.
He consecrates this sad moment", says Lange, "as the anticipatory
festival of a common enjoyment in the world of glory."
387
LUKE
Kuioncl says, "The new wine of the glorified world is a symbol ol
the future festal blessedness of the heavenly world.”
28 But ye are they that have con¬
tinued with me in my temptations; 29
and 5 I appoint unto you a kingdom,
even as my Father appointed unto me,
3 0 that ye may eat and drink at my
table in my kingdom; and ye shall sit
'Or, / appoint unto you, even as my Father
appointed unto me a kingdom, that ye may eat
and drink &*c.
on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
6 9 But from henceforth shall the Son
of man be seated at the right hand of
the power of God.
Vers. 28-30, 69. The Disciples to Judge Israel at the Lord’s
Return.
Ver. 28. The Lord does not reproach them but praises them for their
steadfastness. He speaks of His whole life as one of trial and temptation.
The reference is to the many injuries, persecutions, snares, perils of life,
etc., and the expression ” temptation ’ is none too strong.
Ver. 29. “and l”, —i. e., I, in my turn, as a reward for their fidelity
to Him. The meaning is, ”1 ordain for you a dominion in my kingdom
as my Father, etc.”
The word appoint has in it the idea of a disposition such as a dying
man forms when he makes his will for those who are left behind. Meyer
objects to this idea in the word because it could not be retained in the
second clause where it is said that the Father hath appointed unto Christ
a kingdom. It is nevertheless true that the verb used is applied to testa¬
mentary disposition. (G. A. Oo.)
Ver. 30. “that ye may eat and drink at my table’ ,—This is with¬
out doubt to be taken in the same sense as in verses 16 and 18.
“sit on thrones’, —Does He refrain from saying “twelve thrones”
as in Matthew because of Judas?
Godet says, “The kingdom mentioned here is the power exercised
by man on man by means of divine life and divine truth. As Christ
Himself reigns over Christians, so Christians by the life and the truth
which they possess through Him shall reign over all. Are not Peter.
James and Paul at the present day the rulers of the world?” He says in
substance that this is only another form of the thought expressed in John
13.20, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that
recetveth me, receiveth Him that sent me.” But this is an altogether
uncalled-for weakening of the meaning of these profound and solemn
words.
Ver. 69. (See exposition under Matt. 26.64.) The words at once
recall Dan. 7.1 3,14. Meyer thinks that Luke alone gives the literal mean
ing, while in the accounts of both Matthew and Mark the figurative sense
must be maintained; in Matthew by the expression “Henceforth”, i. e.,
from now on, and in Mark by the words, “sitting at the right hand of
power”.
388
JOHN
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
21 But we hoped that it was he who
should redeem Israel. Yea and besides
all this, it is now the third day since
these things came to pass.
Vcr. 21. The Kingdom Again Misinterpreted.
"But we ",—That is, on our part, as over against what the rulers had
done.
"hoped that it was he ",—It does not say they were still hoping, but
that they had once hoped until their hopes had been checked by the events
they mentioned.
"who should redeem Israel ",—This is, doubtless, to be taken in the
sense of Acts 1.6, which redemption in their minds doubtless included both
political and religious deliverance.
"the third day ",—This was spoken with reference to His promise to
rise on the third day. Their faint hope had grown fainter.
The subject, of course, is Jesus, and the more literal rendering is,
'He passes this present day as the third", but the rendering of our text sets
forth the meaning sufficiently clear.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
JOHN
(A. D. 85—A. D. 90)
CHAPTER FIVE
and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God; and they that
‘hear shall live. 26 For as the Father
hath life in himself, even so gave he
to the Son also to have life in himself:
27 and he gave him authority to execute
judgment, because he is a son of man.
28 Marvel not at this; for the hour
cometh, in which all that are in the
tombs shall hear his voice, 29 and shall
come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have 2 done evil, unto the resurrec¬
tion of judgment.
1 Or, hearken
a Or, practised
Vers. 21-29. Christ, the Author of Resurrection Both for thf.
Righteous and the Wicked.
i
1* Some refer this whole passage to the bodily resurrection and the
final judgment. (B. Ew. Ow. We. Bez. Ter. Era. Gro. Kui. Sto. Kae.
Chr. Baum, Schot. Buser.)
21 For as the Father raiseth the dead
and giveth them life, even so the Son
also giveth life to whom he will. 22
For neither doth the Father judge any
man, but he hath given all judgment
unto the Son; 23 that all may honor
the Son even as they honor the Father.
He that honoreth not the Son honor-
eth not the Father that sent him. 24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth
him that sent me, hath eternal life, and
cometh not into judgment, but hath
passed out of death into life. 25 Verily,
verily, 1 say unto you, The hour cometh,
389
JOHN
But against this Meyer rightly urges the following:
(a) " that ye marvel not” (verse 20) refers to a continuous mar
veling.
(b) " whom he will” is in keeping only with a spiritual reference.
(c) " that ye may honor” expresses a result taking place in the present
and continuing.
(d) "oaf of death” (verse 24) cannot be referred to physical death.
(e) “and now is” can refer only to a present spiritual awakening.
(f) The literal resurrection is distinctly marked out by Christ in
verses 28 and 29 as distinct and as something greater than the
awakening He had just been referring to.
2. Others refer the whole passage to a spiritual awakening. (Ei. Ec.
B-C. Amm. Schw.) This is manifestly without proper support.
3. Still others refer verses 21 to 27 to the ever continuing spiritual
quickening and judging, and verses 28 and 29 to the final bodily resur¬
rection and judgment. (M. C. D. Le. Ca. Mai. Wor. Nea. Hun. Hen. Hil.
Lam. Lu. and the majority.) This is the prevailing view.
4. There are those, however, who slightly modify the last mentioned
view by seeing in the passage not only a progression from the spiritual to
the bodily, but from a general to a particular; that is, they take verses 21
to 23 as collecting in a unity the total quickening work of Christ spiritual
and bodily, and then progressing from this general thought to the particu¬
lar, first to the spiritual quickening and judgment in verses 24 to 27 and
then to the bodily quickening in verses 28 and 29. (L. A. G. K. Lud.
Tho. Wei.)
These last two views are alike as to 'the main portion of the passage,
and either view as to verses 21 to 23 may be taken without violence to the
distinction to be maintained in the main portion, but on the whole the
third view is to be preferred, especially since “whom he will” seems more
naturally to refer to spiritual quickening than to the final bodily resur¬
rection.
Ver. 21. Jesus now specifies the greater works of verse 20.
“the Son also giveth life” ,—The tense is present, for He was doing it
then and is doing it now.
“whom he will”, —No one can doubt that these words lie implicitly
in the first part of the verse also, but the thought is expressed only with
reference to the Son.
There is no suggestion here of an absolute decree; He wills to quicken
those who will to believe, as seen in verse 24.
Lunneman refers the expression to the Jews who imagined that as
descendents of Abraham they had a necessitating right to eternal life, while
Lange finds in it a reference to the Jews who were trying to stop Jesus in
His work of quickening and giving life, as evidenced by verse 18. But
these are both rather far-fetched findings. It simply means that in every
case where He wills the results invariably follow.
Those who take the verse literally refer the expression to the raising
of Lazarus and other similar cases. But for these few cases this expression
is neither appropriate nor adequate.
390
JOHN
Ver. 22. "For neither", —This seems to mean that as the Father
does not Himself, by His own proper act, give life to any, but commits all
such quickening to the Son, so it is with the judging also. Indeed Christ's
giving life to whom He will is an exercise of judgment (D. M. Lu. Tho.),
and this verse is a justification of Christ's giving life to whomsoever He
wills to give it. As Godet says, "To make alive is to absolve; to refuse
to make alive is to condemn."
"judge", —Meyer, Lange, Riddle and others refer this to the judgment
of condemnation, the sentence of spiritual death. Godet, however, we
think rightly prefers to take it in its general sense. It refers not only to
the last day, but to the progress of judgment in time whereby the " whom
He will" is decided.
Ver. 24. "cometh not into judgment", —Says Mackintosh, "The
idea of Christians being arraigned at the bar of judgment to try the question
of their title and fitness for heaven, is as absurd as it is unscriptural. How
can we think of Paul standing to be judged as to his title to heaven, after
having been there for two thousand years? If the question of our title to
heaven has to be settled at the day of judgment, then clearly it was not
settled on the Cross. If it be maintained that Christians shall only stand
in the judgment in order to make it manifest that they are clear through
the death of Christ, then would the day of judgment be turned into a mere
formality, the bare thought of which is most revolting to every pious and
well-regulated mind."
Ver. 25. This is quite generally referred to the spiritual awakening
from the dead.
"the hour cometh and now is", —The first part of this expression
doubtless refers to Pentecost (A. G.), and the whole is an expression of
that which is to characterize the spiritual kingdom of Christ which was
even now begun among men, but was yet to come in its fullness.
"hear the voice", —His call to awake in the widest and deepest sense,
which call was to be heard in His own preaching and that of his Apostles
and ministers. The meaning is the same as that of verse 24, the word
"voice" being used instead of "word" because the hearers are spoken of as
dead. This "hour" has already lasted 2000 years. (Mack.)
Olshausen would have us refer verse 24 to the spiritual resurrection
and this verse to the first bodily resurrection—that of believers, he says,
at the Parousia; and then verses 28 and 29 he would have designate the
final, universal resurrection.
Those who agree with Olshausen must refer the expression, "and now
is" to the resurrection of a few believers who appeared after the resurrection
of Christ or, as some do, to the few miraculous resurrections wrought by
Jesus in the course of His ministry. But these are rather narrow limi¬
tations of the words. Indeed Olshausen’s explanation of this expression
is not open to discussion, as nothing in the text authorizes us to see here
the indication of any resurrection different from that of verse 24.
Godet says, "Undoubtedly Jesus admits a distinction between the first
resurrection, the resurrection of the just, and the final, universal resurrec¬
tion", but Olshausen's explanation he considers entirely out of the question.
391
JOHN
Ver. 28. “Marvel not at this’’, —Because something far more mar¬
velous you are about to hear.
“shall hear his voice ”,—i. e., the voice of the Son of God as in
verse 25.
Ver. 29. “done good”, —The Greek verb for the word “done” as
here used refers more to the permanent good, the good which remains,
while in the expression “done evil” the verb used refers more to the habit of
action, i. e., practicing evil, as though one were, as Stier puts it, the servant
of evil.
“the resurrection of judgment”, —This, says Godet, "is a resurrec¬
tion leading to judgment in a condemnatory sense, to eternal death in
Gehenna." (Thus Tholuck, Lange, Alford, Riddle, Schaff and most all
authorities.) "It is," says Lange, "a resurrection from death temporal to
death eternal."
Tholuck says, "If ‘life’ had simply the idea of duration in it, then
'judgment ' here, its antithesis, would mean annihilation. The New Tes¬
tament idea of life, however, includes happiness, and judgment here must
be that of misery." The one comes forth to a continuing life and the
other to a continuing judgment.
Olshausen makes verse 24 refer to spiritual resurrection and verse 25
to the first bodily resurrection, while verses 28 and 29 he refers to the last,
final and general resurrection in which both good and bad are involved
(Rev. 20.12), “judgment” referring to absolute condemnation. But this
contention can hardly be supported.
Mackintosh argues from verse 29 that, "We have indicated in the
most unmistakable terms the two resurrections. True, they are not dis¬
tinguished as to time in this passage; but they are as to character. We
have a life resurrection, and a judgment resurrection, and nothing can be
more distinct than these. There is no possible ground here upon which
to build the theory of a promiscuous resurrection."
Hodge, on the other hand, argues from the use of the word “hour”
in verse 28 that the resurrection of the righteous must take place at the
same time with that of the wicked, and it would not therefore be pre-
millennial. But if the “hour” in verse 25 has lasted now for 2000 years,
and the “hour” mentioned in Chap. 4.21,23 has lasted quite as long, why
may not the hour which is to be signalized by the resurrection of all the
dead from their graves, for all these words teach, also denote a period of
centuries, asks Dr. Kellogg.
In these verses "it is as little said that ‘all’ shall be raised at the same
time as in verse 25 it is said that all the spiritually dead shall be quickened
at the same time. The 'orders’ which Paul in First Corinthians distin¬
guishes at the resurrection and which are in harmony with the teachings of
Judaism and of Christ Himself regarding a twofold resurrection finds room
also in the word 'hour’ which is capable of prophetic extension." (Meyer.)
Alford refers the judgment here to Matt. 25.31-46.
392
JOHN
CHAPTER SIX
39 And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all that which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up at the last day. 40
For this is the will of my Father, that
every one that beholdeth the Son, and
believeth on him. should have eternal
life; and I J will raise him up at the last
day.
‘Or, fhat 1 should raise him uf
44 No man can come to me, except
the Father that sent me draw him: and
I will raise him up in the last day.
54 He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood hath eternal life:
and I will raise him up at the last day.
Vers. 39,40,44,54. The Believer’s Resurrection at the Last
Day.
That the bodily resurrection of the believer is here set forth is beyond
all dispute, and it is presented here as the necessary crowning of the spiritual
work accomplished by Christ in the believer.
Meyer says, "It is the first resurrection that is meant, that to the ever¬
lasting life of the Messianic kingdom, and, as a matter of course, it includes
the transformation of those still living." This is in keeping with his
explanation of Chap. 5.29.
Lange says, "It is the period of resurrection and judgment from the
second coming of Christ to the general resurrection, Rev. 20."
Alford says, "It refers to the only resurrection which is the completion
of the man in his glorified state."
Riddle says, "It is the one great period of resurrection for the whole
Church of God, the glorious consummation, the final resurrection."
Blackstone says, "This is the great Millennial day ushered in and
ending with resurrection and judgment, and during which Christ shall
rule the nations and judge the world in righteousness, as Paul says in Acts
1 7.31. Some argue that if this is the last day’ there cannot follow a thou¬
sand years before the unbelievers are raised; but Peter says, ' One day is with
the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day V'
CHAPTER ELEVEN
23 Jesus saith unto her. Thy brother
shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto
him, I know that he shall rise again in
the resurrection at the last day. 25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrec¬
tion, and the life: he that believeth on
me, though he die, yet shall he live;
26 and whosoever liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. Believest thou
this?
Vers. 23-26. The Last-day Resurrection and the Eternal Life
of Believers.
Ver. 23. “Thy brother shall rise again', —Some think Jesus refers
to the immediate resurrection of Lazarus (G. S. M.), while others refer
the words to the resurrection at the last day (A. L. Hen.). The words
might easily denote either, but in keeping with what He came to do (verse
11) and the meaning of the answer in the next verse the former and more
common interpretation appeals to us as the more preferable one. The
words were designedly ambiguous, so put for the trial and development
of her faith.
393
JOHN
Ver. 24. Martha, it seems, failed to grasp the true meaning of the
Master s words. The great unqualified “rise again " was. as Godet says,
“too strong for her thoughts to connect it with the present”. Her answer
expresses not merely “the resignation of disappointed expectation” (M.).
There is a tone of inquiry in it (D. C.) ; she seems to be feeling her way,
as Lange says. We must not therefore, with Riddle, think of Martha as
“having lost the hope which the sight of Jesus had awakened” (verse 22).
She is implying the rather in her answer that she was expecting something
more, and so she gently repels, as Alford says, the insufficient comfort of
her brother’s ultimate resurrection. She is giving Jesus a chance to explain
Himself, as Godet says, “and to declare expressly what she scarcely dares to
hope for in the present case.” But Martha’s faith is not as spiritual as it is
strong, and it is to the development of that faith in a more spiritual sense
that Jesus in the next verse gives Himself.
“In the resurrection at the last day”, —This “last day* in the mind
of the Jew was the closing day of the age that then was, and the resurrec¬
tion of the pious Jews was by them thought to be the opening act of the
Messianic kingdom, as had already been announced in Dan. 12.2 and
II Macc. 7.9,14. This belief, says Godet, “was generally spread abroad
in Israel, and that especially in the circles in which Pharisaic teaching
prevailed”.
Ver. 25. “I am the resurrection and the life ”,—i. e., I am the per¬
sonal power of both, the One who raises and who makes alive.
Some contend that “life” here is the positive result of the resurrection
(M. Luc.). This it assuredly is, but it is more: it is the ground, the con¬
dition, the cause and true principle of the resurrection (S. O. G. L. Ew.
Lud. Hun.). Christ is the Life in the highest and most absolute sense of
the word and therefore He is the Resurrection.
Jesus then goes on to say, He that believeth on Me, even if he shall
have died physically, will live eternally, and every one who is still alive
physically and believes on Me shall not die forever, i. e., “shall never unto
eternity die' , as the Greek has it.
In the first clause death is physical and life is spiritual, while in the
second clause life is physical and death is spiritual.
Ver. 26. There is no reference here, as some maintain, to the Second
Coming and those who are to be alive at that time, as in I Cor. 15.51.
Such an interpretation would set aside all reference to Lazarus, or to pres
ent circumstances. In First Corinthians Paul is speaking of believers prima¬
rily, but that saying is to be equally true of unbelievers, on those bodies
the change from corruption to incorruption must sometime also take place,
in the case of those who are living when the time for that change arrives,
whereas the saying here is one setting forth the exclusive privilege of the
believer.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
3 And if I go and prepare a place am. there ye may be also,
for you, I will come again, and will 18 1 will not leave you 'desolate; I
receive you unto myself; that where I come unto you.
’Or, orphans
394
JOHN
21 and I will love Him and manifest
myself unto him.
23 Jesus answered and said unto
him. If a man love me, he will keep
my word; and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him. and make
our abode with him.
28 Ye heard how I said to -you, I go
away, and I come unto you.
29 And now I have told you before
it come to pass, that, when it come to
pass, ye may believe.
Vers. 3,18.21,23,28,29. How the Lord is to Come Again.
Ver. 3. "I will come again ”,—Just what Jesus had in mind is by
no means certain.
1. Ebrard finds in the words a reference to His resurrection. But
the true reunion (where I am, there ye may be also) with His
own did not take place then.
2. Others refer it to death. (L. B-C. Ni. Tho. Gro. Reu. Hen. Kjia.)
But this would be their going to Christ rather than Christ’s com¬
ing to them. Nowhere does the New Testament speak of Christ
coming to receive believers at death. Neither Luke 16.22, Acts
7.58 nor John 21.22, as argued by Lange, is to the point.
3. Still others refer it to His Second Coming, the Parousia, and say
that the disciples would be at once reminded of His words in Matt.
24. (M. C. K. Ew. Lud. Wei. Ori. Hof. Lam. Bru. Tor. Mack.)
Certain objections register themselves against this view, namely:
(a) The present ‘7 come* denotes a right speedy return as calcu¬
lated to console the sorrowing Disciples.
(b) By this interpretation He would have consoled them by an
event which not one of them ever saw and which is still
future after 2000 years.
(c) It presupposes that Christ and the Disciples conceived of the
Parousia as so imminent in a chronological sense. Meyer
in accepting this view indeed does so attribute this belief to
them. It may have been true of the Disciples and the
Church, but can it with confidence be maintained of Jesus?
Did He not on several occasions at least intimate rather the
opposite? (See Matt. 25.5; Luke 12.28, and Mark 13.35.)
(d) The reunion mentioned here is to be in heaven, whereas at
the Parousia the reunion is to be rather on earth with its
future destiny of glorification.
4. Again there are those who see in the words a reference to the
return of Jesus through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and thereafter
abiding with them. It is claimed that this view is favored by the
fact that the whole chapter deals with the coming of the Com¬
forter. (G. O. R. Lu. Nea.)
The chief objection to this view is that Christ is speaking of com¬
ing to fetch them to a prepared place whose locality is determined,
and as Torrey says, "Jesus at the coming of the Holy Spirit does
not receive us unto Himself to be with Him, but the rather He
comes to be with us."
Both Godet and Riddle relieve this embarrassment by affirming
that the two promises contained in the words must not necessarily
refer to the same time. The '7 come " is put in the present tense,
while the '7 will receive” is future, the first referring to something
395
JOHN
soon to take place, while the second refers to the introduction of
the believer into the Father's house either at death or at the
Parousia if he be then still living.
5. Alford and Stier take a comprehensive view. They would have us
bear in mind what Stier calls the “perspective” of prophecy and
refer this coming not to any single act, but to the great complex
of them all.
Alford says, “The coming is begun in His Resurrection (verse 18),
carried on in the spiritual life (verse 23), further advanced when
each by death is fetched away to be with Him, and fully com¬
pleted at His coming in glory when they shall be with Him
forever.”
This last view is rather an amplification of the one just preceding it.
and it would seem that between these two views and the third the decision
must lie. All things considered the objections to the third view appear to
us as the less formidable. Manifestly the words mean that having gone
to prepare a place for them, His coming was to take them away to that
place where they were henceforth to be with Him.
Ver. 18. “I come unto you ”,—This expression plainly applies to
the coming by the Spirit, who is one with Christ. (A. S. M. C. O. R. G.
Lu. Tho. Baum.), although some (Be. Lud. Aug. Hof.) refer it to the
Parousia, and others (Ew. Chr. Ori. Eut. Era, Gro. Rup. Theo.) to the
manifestations subsequent to His resurrection, while still others (L. D.
Bez. Lut. Lam.) claim that Christ had in view both His corporeal and His
spiritual return, upon the former of which (His corporeal return at His
Resurrection) the latter (His spiritual return) depended.
Ver. 21. “I will manifest myself unto him ”,—The reference is to
the manifestation of Christ through the Holy Spirit (L. A. S. G. M.).
and not to His manifestation at the Parousia (Lud.), nor to His appearings
after His Resurrection (Gro. Hil.).
Ver. 23. “and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him ”,—This is to be taken in the same sense as in verse 18, i. e., a coming
and an indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Ver. 28. “I come unto you' ,—These words are of course to be
interpreted in harmony with those of verse 3.
Ver. 29. “come to pass ”,—This refers not to His coming again,
but to His going to His Father, His exaltation by means of His death. His
Resurrection and His Ascension.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he shall guide you info
all truth ; for he shall not speak from
himself; but what things soever he shall
hear, these shall he speak; and he shall
declare unto you the things that are to
come.
Ver. 13. The Revealer of Things to Come.
“things to come ”,—This is said no doubt with a reference to verse
396
JOHN
1 2, being especially the eschatological references scattered through the Acts
and the Epistles and most fully in the Apocalypse where the “things to
come # are distinctly the subject of the Spirit's revelation.
These “things to come”, properly interpreted, are not, as Milligan
says, so much revelations wholly new, as new applications of what had
already been revealed. That Christ had the Disciples alone in mind Tho-
luck thinks is clearly proven by Chap. 14.26 and Chap. 15.26,27, and
therefore it will not do to think with the Quakers and the Mystics that this
special revelation of the Spirit goes on now in the illuminated in general,
that is, in all spiritually-minded followers of Jesus. Godet, too, thinks the
reference is to special revelation granted to the Apostles, distinct from that
which every Christian receives by means of theirs. The expression " all
the truth” contains the thought, says Godet, "that during the present
economy no new teaching respecting Christ will come to be added to that
of the Apostles".
16 A little while, and ye behold me
no more; and again a little while, and
ye shall see me.
20 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that ye shall weep and lament, but the
world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrow¬
ful, but your sorrow shall be turned
into joy.
2 2 And ye therefore now have sor¬
row: but I will see you again, and your
heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one
taketh away from you.
Vers. 16,20,22. The Coming of Christ Through the Holy Spirit.
“a little while” ,—The first “little while” refers of course to His
death, and the “not seeing” refers of course to physical sight. But to what
does the second “little while” refer and what kind of sight is involved in
“ye shall see"? There are three views:
1. That which refers the second “little while” to the Resurrection.
(L. Eb. Ew. Hen. Wei. Lut. Aug. Tho.) But this not only seems
inconsistent with verse 23, because in that day they did ask Him
questions (Acts 1.5,6), but the sequel, as seen in verses 25 and
26, seems to prove the impossibility of this explanation.
2. That which refers the second “little while” to the Parousia. (Hof.
Lud. Brow.) But this hardly seems consistent with the expression
“a little while”. The first “little while” was only one day, and
the second one would then be at this present time 2000 years long.
Luthardt thinks that because of the expression, “yet a little while”,
the Disciples were to see in the transitory return of the Risen One a
pledge of the future Parousia. But of this Jesus certainly says
nothing, either here or in what follows,
3. That which refers the second “little while” to the coming of
Christ through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and makes the
“seeing” a spiritual vision. (M. G. O. R. Tho. Mil. Scha.) That
this is its main reference, even as in Chap. 14.18, there can be little
doubt.
Alford and Stier concede that the expression receives its main fulfill¬
ment at the day of Pentecost, but in all these prophecies assumes a per¬
spective of continual unfolding fulfillments beginning at the Resurrection
(at which time their spiritual vision might be said to have really begun)
397
JOHN
and going on through Pentecost to its final completion in the great return
of the Lord.
The Disciples were perplexed; they could not reconcile this " little
while’ ' with what the Master had said in verse 10 about going to His
Father. Jesus therefore proceeds in verses 20 and 22 to describe the not
seeing and the yet seeing again by their effects.
Ver. 20. "ye shall weep and lament", —They would mourn for
Him as dead.
"the world shall rejoice", —This rejoicing was first seen in its derision
at the Cross.
"turned to joy", —i. e., when the "ye shall see me" takes place. Says
Godet, “The appearance of the Risen One only half healed the wound; the
perfect and enduring joy was given only on the day of Pentecost.”
Alford, in keeping with his method of interpretation, says with
refined insight that "ye shall be sorrowful" goes deeper than the "weeping
and lamenting" just mentioned, and shows that the whole refers not only
to the grief while Christ was in the tomb, but to the grief continually mani¬
festing itself in the course and conflict of the Christian, which grief is
turned into joy by the advancing work of the Spirit of Christ and into the
perfect consummation of joy at the Second Coming of the Lord.
It is here that David Brown says, ‘‘The transport of joy of the
widowed Church at the personal return of her Lord is certainly here
expressed.”
Ver. 22. "but I will see you again", —This is only a correlate
designation of the same fact expressed in verses 16 and 19, and the refer¬
ence is mainly no doubt, as in the previous verses, to the communion with
them through the Holy Spirit. (M. G. Mil.)
Lange, with others of like view, refers it to the Resurrection exclu¬
sively, as seen in their exegesis above, while Alford, consistent with his view
throughout, says, ‘‘at My Resurrection—by My Spirit—at My second
coming”.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
36 Jesus answered. My kingdom is
not of this world; if my kingdom were
of this world, then would my 'servants
fight, that I should not be delivered to
the Jews; but now is my kingdom not
from hence.
J Or, officers', as in verses 3,12,18,22
Ver. 36. Christ's Kingdom Not a Worldly One.
"not of this world", —i. e., not belonging to, not springing from,
not arising out of the world and therefore not to be supported by this
world’s weapons.
Blackstone says, ‘‘True, it is not of the spirit of this world, just as
believers are not of this world (John 15.19). The correct rendering of
the passage is, ‘My kingdom is not (ek) out of this world.' That is, it
does not emanate from the world. He is not (ek) out of this world. (John
8.23.) Both He and His kingdom are from above (Col. 3.1). But His
398
JOHN
kingdom will be set upon this earth, in accordance with the prayer which
He taught us, 'Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in
earth
“my servants ",—The reference here is not to angels (S.), nor to His
Disciples (Lam.), but to such officers and soldiers as He would have had if
His kingdom had been of this world. (A. Lu. Hen.)
“but now ",—This is not a temporal particle; it means, “as the case
now stands".
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
2 I Peter therefore seeing him saith to
Jesus. Lord, ‘and what shall this man
do? 22 Jesus saith unto him. If I will
that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee? follow thou me. 2 3 This
saying therefore went forth among the
*Gr. and this man, what?
brethren, that that disciple should not
die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that
he should not die; but, If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to
thee?
Vers. 21-23. The Second Coming and the Death of John.
Vcr. 21. “what shall this man do ?"—What did Peter mean?
1. Some take the question as a disapprobation of John’s unauthor¬
ized following after Christ and Peter. (Pau.)
2. Some take it as mere curiosity. (Tho.)
3. Some take it as an expression of petty jealousy. (M.)
4. Some say Peter doubtless understood Christ’s words about his
(Peter’s) coming martyrdom, and prompted by an affectionate
feeling, he gave expression to the longing he naturally felt for his
friend, as he asks, “And what shall befall him?” (A. G. L. Lud.
Era. Chr.)
Ver. 22. “what is that to thee ?"—The reply of Jesus seems to con¬
tain a gentle rebuke, and so there must have been something at least indis¬
creet in Peter’s question. The rebuke is, however, hardly so severe as some
would have us think. It is as if Christ had said, “Do thou think of what
I command thee, and leave to God His own secrets.” We are inclined to
think it was affection mingled with curiosity that prompted the question
of Peter.
< i . 9 1 •
tarry , —i. e.,
tyrdom.
live, be preserved in life in opposition to Peter’s mar-
“till / come ",—In what sense is this coming to be taken?
L It is not His coming in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, since Peter
as well as John was present at that event.
2. It is not His coming to John in death, for this would be equiva¬
lent to saying, “If he live until he die”, which would be nonsense.
Or if it be taken that John shall have a gentle and natural death at
the end of a long life (O. L. Ew. Ze. We. Gro. Lam. Rup. Wor.
Cla.), it is equivalent to saying that Jesus only comes in death to
such, which is not only absurd, but is disproved by the case of
Stephen.
3. It is not His coming to the place where John is to wait. (Pau.)
399
THE ACTS
4. It is not His coming to lead him out of Gallilee, where John was
to remain, to the scene of Apostolic activity.
5. It is practically agreed by all able exegetes that the Parousia is the
time to which Christ referred. But the Parousia in what sense?
I. The final Second Coming (M. D. Tor. Wei. Reu. Lus. Bla.
Mil. Sco.), the passage teaching that John would be among
those caught up without dying (I Cor. 15.51). Thus the Jews
understood it until John died, and even then they had a
legend that he was alive in the grave and that the tomb moved
when he breathed. There is no doubt that there was at that
time a belief in the nearness of the Parousia.
One of two things must be true if this view be accepted:
1. That Jesus shared the error of His contemporaries in rela¬
tion to the nearness of His return, as Weiss maintains,
which is, of course, in itself inadmissible as well as con¬
trary to His testimony elsewhere.
2. That Jesus was speaking hypothetically, i. e., “even
should / will ", etc. (M. Tho. Tr.), which is also inad¬
missible, because Jesus could not have presented as pos
sible (on the condition of His good pleasure) a thing
which was impossible, as Godet says. Alford further¬
more says that "such a mere hypothetical saying would be
strangely incongruous in the mouth of our Lord, espec-*
ially in these last solemn days of His presence on earth".
II. There is but one other possible interpretation of this Second
Coming of Christ, namely, that which seems so often to be
alluded to in the three other Gospels, i. e., the establishment
in full of the dispensation of the kingdom by the destruction
of the nation, the temple and the city of the Jews at Jerusalem
as the beginning of the Parousia of Christ. (B. A. S. G. Lud.)
Alford says, "At the Destruction of Jerusalem began that
mighty series of events of which the Apocalypse is the pro
phetic record and which is in the complex known as the ' com¬
ing of the Lord’, ending, as it shall, with His glorious and
personal advent."
This the beloved Apostle alone lived to see. The fact that
John far outlived this event does not, as Weiss maintains,
militate against the view, since the “until'’, as Godet says, has
nothing exclusive in it.
Ver. 23. “he should not die", —John does not explain the meaning
of Christ’s words, which perhaps he did not know; he only corrects the
misapprehension that he was not to die.
THE ACTS
(A. D. 65)
CHAPTER ONE
6 They therefore, when they were dom to Israel? 7 And- he said unto
come together, asked him, saying, Lord. them. It is not for you to kno<v times
dost thou at this time restore the king- or seasons, which the Father hath ’set
'Or, appointed oy
400
THE ACTS
within his own authority. 8 But ye be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and
shall receive power, when the Holy in all Judxa and Samaria, and unto the
Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall uttermost part of the earth.
Vers. 6-8. The Kingdom Confused.
Ver. 6. " come together”, —Luke 24.49,50 makes it plain that this
coming together was not at the same time as in verse 4 (A. D,), but on a
subsequent occasion, though perhaps on the same day. (G. O. M. Ha.)
"asked Him”, —This is not an expression of astonishment, 4 ‘Lord,
wilt Thou restore the kingdom to these who have so treacherously dealt
with Thee as to crucify Thee?" (Li.), or, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time,
when the hatred of the rulers is so strong and our power is so weak, try
to erect your banners?" (Bark.) ; for thus, in either case, the Lord's answer
would be irrelevant.
“at this time”, —Having promised them that not many days hence
the Baptism of the Spirit would take place, and having always connected
this with the coming of the kingdom, they were led thus to ask the ques¬
tion. All the more did they think they might assume this from verse 4.
(M. Le.)
"kingdom to Israel”, —Still entangled in the Jewish hopes, thinking
the Messiah to be destined for Israel as such; still looking for a temporal,
visible kingdom, although after so long an association with Jesus their
views could hardly have been altogether carnal, and they must have had
some more advanced ideas as to the spirituality of the kingdom than the rest
of the Jews.
Ver. 7. Jesus answered them only as to time. He does not correct
their erroneous notions, knowing that the Holy Spirit, so soon to be given,
and the course of events would do that. He did not, however, give such
an answer as would take away all prospect of a future manifestation of His
kingdom, which He knew would yet one day display itself in a visible,
external dominion.
Olshausen well remarks that the Apostles were to be less prophets of
the future and more witnesses of the past. As it was not for them to
know, neither is it for us.
”times” ,—The reference is to time absolutely without regard to
circumstances.
"seasons",—In this word the reference is to definite, determined
periods and epochs, seasons of greater and less duration respectively.
"set within His own authority”, —The word "set" is by Alford and
Gloag rendered “kept", but our reading keeps closer to the original. Meyer
renders it "established", which has quite the same meaning as the text. It
involves in it of course the idea of "appoint" (marginal reading), the
period referred to being that of the arrangement of the divine counsels of
redemption.
within His own authority”, —i. e., in the sovereign exercise of it.
Ver. 8. A reproof, by implication, of their carnal anticipation of the
kingdom for the Jews only at Jerusalem. Still they did not seem to un¬
derstand. (See Chap. 11.9.)
witnesses”, —i. e., of My teachings, life, death, resurrection and
ascension.
401
THE ACTS
"ends of the earth", —There is no warrant here for the untenable
position that the Apostles themselves went to the ends of the earth, nor does
the expression mean the ends only of the land of Palestine, but of the
whole world.
9 And when he had said these things,
as they were looking, he was taken up:
and a cloud received him out of their
sight. 10 And while they were looking
stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold
two men stood by them in white ap¬
parel: 11 who also said. Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye looking into
heaven? this Jesus, who was received
up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye beheld him going
into heaven.
Vers. 9-11. The Ascension and the Promised Return.
Vcr. 9. " cloud", —A bright cloud. (Matt. 17.5.)
"The visible manifestation of the presence of God who takes to
Himself His Son into the glory of heaven." (Meyer.)
"The bright cloud so often appearing to the Israelites and which
rested on the mercy seat, the visible symbol of the presence of God, the
Shekinah of the Jews." (Gloag.)
Alford says, "There was a manifest propriety in the last withdrawal
of the Lord while ascending; not consisting in a disappearance of His body
as on former occasions since the Resurrection; for thus might His abiding
humanity have been called into question. As it was He went up in human
form, and so we think and pray to Him."
Baumgarten beautifully says, "While the ascension of Elijah may be
compared to the flight of a bird which none can follow, the ascension of
Christ is as it were a bridge between heaven and earth laid down for all who
are drawn to Him by His earthly existence."
Ver. 10. "two men ",—i. e., angels.
Ver. 11. "why stand ye looking into heaven ?"—
Calvin thinks perhaps they thought He might return, that He had not
really gone away into heaven but only up into the clouds.
Some think it was a rebuke to their astonishment because He had
told them that He must ascend to His Father, and they should not have
been so astonished when He did so.
It is more probable that the words were spoken in a comforting
manner, i. e., "Why stand ye gazing as if you were never more to see Jesus;
He will come back again?"
"so come ",—This refers of course to the manner of His coming, in
a cloud, bodily, visibly and, of course, in His glorified humanity. (O.
M. B. D. A. E. Gl. Ha.)
Hackett has well said that the assertion that the words refer only to
the certainty of Christ’s return, namely, that as He had departed, so He
would certainly come back, is contradicted by every passage in which the
phrase occurs. (Chap. 7.8; Matt. 23.27; Lu. 13.34; II Tim. 3.8.) The
phrase always indicates manner, and the literal translation here is, "thus
shall come in the manner which".
Dr. Torrey has well said, "If the Bible teaches anything definitely
and distinctly, it teaches that the Lord Jesus who was taken up visibly
and bodily from Mount Olivet into heaven so that the Disciples saw Him
402
THE ACTS
as He went, is coming again visibly
as He comes."
1 7 ’And it shall be in the last days, saith
God,
l will pour forth of my Spirit upon
all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy.
And your young men shall see
visions,
And your old men shall dream
dreams:
1 8 Yea and on my Servants and on my
'handmaidens in those days
Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and
1 JoeI 2.22 ff.
z Gr. bondmen
3 Gr. bondnraidens
bodily so that people shall see Him
they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the
heaven above,
And signs on the earth beneath;
Blood and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into dark¬
ness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the day of the Lord come,
That great and notable day :
21 And it shall be, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.
and
CHAPTER TWO
Vers. 17-21. The Effusion of the Holy Spirit in the Last Days.
A reproduction almost verbatim of Joel 2.28-32, following the Sep-
tuagint. (See Joel for further and fuller explanation.)
Ver. 17. “in the last days', —In the Hebrew of Joel it is “after¬
wards”, and in the Septuagint it is “after these things” . The expression
was used in the Old Testament to signify the age of the Messiah. It was
used by the Rabbis for that period of time which extends from the coming
of the Messiah to the end of the world, and therefore it signifies this age.
or the period in which we now live. Of course the Jews believe the
Messiah has not yet come.
The "Age of the Messiah" was called “the last days” because it was
to be the last dispensation of religion. (Isa. 2.2; Micah 4.1; Heb. 1.1;
II Tim. 3.1; I John 2.18.)
Meyer says, "This denotes the days immediately preceding the erection
of the Messianic kingdom, which, according to the New Testament view,
could only take place by means of the speedily expected Parousia."
“will pour ”,—The outpouring figuratively describes the copious
communication.
“upon all flesh”, —Joel doubtless had the Jews only in mind, and
that as the people of God, the collective body of whom, and not merely as
formerly individual priests, who were to receive the divine inspiration.
But by this expression as used by Peter all believers without any distinction
as to race were to receive the Spirit as thus specially outpoured. (B. A.
Le. GI. Ha. Lum.)
“prophesy”, —Signifying not merely to foretell future events but
more especially to communicate religious truth in general under divine
inspiration. (See Chap. 19.6 and Chap. 21.9.)
“your sons and your daughters”, —Male and female members of
the people of God—all without exception.
“visions .... dreams”, —Divine revelations by day and by night.
403
THE ACTS
Ver. 18. A solemn repetition of verse 17.
The reference is not to slaves, as might be the case in Joel, but by
the addition of ‘'my" the reference is plainly to God’s servants and God’s
handmaids, all true Christians, male and female, inasmuch as they recog¬
nize that they belong to God.
Ver. 19. “blood and fire, and vapours of smoke ”,—
"The mode of speaking here", as Hackett has well said, "is founded
on the popular idea that, when great events are about to occur, wonderful
phenomena foretoken their appearance."
We are not therefore to understand, with Meyer, natural signs such as
blood-shedding and conflagrations, as this is opposed to their grammatical
relation to " wonders’ ' and “signs”. They are the portents themselves and
not the calamities portended. (A. D. Ha. GI.)
Ver. 20. A day is at hand which will be one of thick gloom, of
sadness and woe. The sun will become dark and the moon will appear
as blood. (Compare Matt. 24.29; Isa. 13.10; Ezek. 32.7.)
Ver. 21. The covenant of the new and spiritual dispensation.
"The gates of God's mercy are thrown open in Christ to all people."
How did Peter understand this prophecy? And how are we to
understand it? There are many who refer “the Day of the Lord” with
its “signs” and “wonders” to the destruction of Jerusalem. Hackett
thinks this the primary reference for four reasons:
1. Since Peter applied the first part of the prophecy to the early
times of the Gospel, so also, by the law of correspondence, should
the last part of the prophecy be applied to the same period.
2. The Day of the Lord, by common usage in the Hebrew prophets,
denotes a day when God comes to make known His power in the
punishment of His enemies, a day of vengeance for the rejection of
His long-continued mercies and the commission of aggravated
sins, and the destruction of Jerusalem appropriates fully every
trait of just such a day.
3. The language coincides almost verbally with that of Matt. 24.29,
and if the language there, as understood by most interpreters,
describes the destruction of Jerusalem, we may justly infer that it
does here.
4. The phraseology, according to the laws of prophetic language, is
strikingly appropriate to represent the unsurpassed horrors and
distress which attended the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and
to announce the extinction of Jewish power and the glory of the
Jewish worship.
Hackett’s reasons are hardly sufficient to warrant his conclusion
although part of the truth lies in the position he has taken. But even he
says, "We are also to recognize the wider scope of the prophecy, and this
fulfillment is but a type of another and fuller fulfillment in the days yet
to come." And Howson well says, "Neither Pentecost and the miraculous
powers bestowed upon the early Church on the one hand, nor the siege of
Jerusalem on the other has exhausted the great prophecy of Joel which
404
THE ACTS
Peter took up and repeated; these are only partial fulfillments; the full
accomplishment still tarries and will assuredly precede that awful day of
the Lord, the time of which is known to the Father only." In harmony
with this we find Gloag saying, "The wonders and signs predicted were
as yet future, but they were regarded by Peter as unavoidable and imminent.
In the destruction of Jerusalem as well as in Pentecost there was a striking
fulfillment of the prophecy, but this was only typical of what was to take
place before the second coming of the Lord."
It must be borne in mind that in prophetic language the day of the
Lord was regarded as following close upon the outpouring of the Spirit,
because, as Alford says, "it was to be the next great event in the divine
arrangement." The prophetic forecast did not take cognizance of the
long period between what we know as the first advent of the Messiah and
His coming again. In fact the Disciples were not expecting so long a
season of waiting, and it may be that they associated the destruction of
Jerusalem, which their Master had foretold, with His coming again accord¬
ing to His promise. At any rate the day of the Lord was to be in the
program of the Lord's return, and Peter was right in taking Pentecost with
its accompanying miracles as the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. It was
the beginning of its fulfillment, the beginning of the signs of the end, and
then, as Alford says, "follows the period, known only to the Father, the
period of waiting—the Church for her Lord's return—and then the signs
shall be renewed and the day of the Lord shall come."
2 9 Brethren, I may say unto you
freely of the patriarch David, that he
both died and was buried, and his tomb
is with us unto this day. 30 Being
therefore a prophet, and knowing that
God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins ’he would
set one upon his throne; 31 he fore¬
seeing this spake of the resurrection of
the Christ, that neither was he left
unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corrup¬
tion. 32 This Jesus did God raise up,
2 whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Being
therefore 3 by the right hand of God ex-
J Or, one should sit
J Or, of whom
s Or, at
alted, and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath
poured forth this, which ye see and
hear. 34 For David ascended not into
the heavens: but he saith himself,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand,
35 Till I make thine enemies the foot¬
stool of thy feet.
36 Let “all the house of Israel therefore
know assuredly, that God hath made
him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus
whom ye crucified.
4 Hs. 110.1
5 Or, every house
Vers. 29-36. The Heir to David's Throne.
Ver. 29. The object of these words is to show that the remarks just
made could not have referred to David.
“freely ",—He was not deficient in any respect to his memory, but
was to state a matter of fact which could not be denied.
“patriarch ",—As being the founder of the royal family.
“wtth us ",—Here in this city.
Ver. 30. In this and the next verse we have the application of the
prophecy to Christ. Unless David meant himself, he must have meant
the Messiah.
“knowing ",—Through knowledge received from the prophet Nathan
as related in II Sam. 7.12,16; see also Ps. 132.11.
405
THE ACTS
“he would set one upon his throne”, —Namely, the Messiah of whom
David was speaking and who was to be the theocratic consummator of
David’s kingdom.
Ver. 31. “foreseeing”, —Prophetically looking into the future.
“was left”, —This and the following verb are in the aorist because
the speaker thinks of the prediction as now accomplished.
Ver. 32. “whereof”, —This is better than “of whom”, as the verb
naturally suggests as antecedent the resurrection itself, and of this the Apos¬
tles considered themselves to be especially the witnesses. (M. Ha. Gl.)
Ver. 33. “by the right hand of God exalted”, —That this rendering
is the correct one there can be little doubt. (A. M. C. E. GL Le. Kui.
Win.) Others, however, render it “to the right hand of God exalted
(O. D. Ha. Ba. Wor. Rob. Nea.)
This latter rendering agrees best perhaps with what follows in verse
34 but it is hardly in harmony with the structure of the Greek language,
and we must not set aside one suitable sense for another when a violation
of syntax is involved. It is not true, as De Wette claims, that the former
rendering is inappropriate and meaningless; for on the contrary it shows
that God's mighty power is seen in the exaltation of Christ as well as in
His resurrection.
“the promise of the Holy Spirit”, —This refers to the promise above
cited from Joel, and not of course to the promises made by Himself to the
same effect, although this latter may also have been in Peter’s mind. The
phrase refers to the fulfillment in the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, and is
therefore equivalent to “having received the promised Holy Spirit”.
“this”, —To be taken not as referring to the Holy Spirit (Bez. Era.
Kui.), but as just this,— this merely, this thing which ye see and hear,
leaving it to the hearers themselves to infer that what was poured out was
none other than the effusion of the promised Holy Spirit.
Ver. 34. “For David ascended not into heaven”, —Therefore the
prediction could not be applied to him.
“my Lord”, —i. e., David’s Lord, the Christ.
“on my right hand”, —i. e., as the partner of the throne having par¬
ticipation in the supreme dominion.
Ver. 35. The dominion here received belongs to Christ as Mediator
and is to cease when the objects of His kingdom as Mediator are accom¬
plished.
Ver. 36. The conclusion from all that has been said.
“Lord”, —The supreme King, ruler generally.
“Christ ”,—In the full and glorious sense in which, as Alford says,
that term was prophetically known.
It is not possible to decide from this passage alone whether or not
Jesus is now sitting on the throne of David. It is quite certain that the
passage has no reference to the original dominion which Christ as God
possesses. It is also just as certain that it is the mediatorial throne, as the
result and reward of His sufferings, which is here primarily intended and
406
THE ACTS
to which He, as Lord and Christ, is exalted. But is this the throne of
David ?
It is true that at first thought the passage does seem to imply this,
as seen in verse 30 and the following references to Christ's resurrection.
Dr. Brown, in his famous work, “The Second Coming”, says, “That
Christ is now on the throne of David is as clearly affirmed by Peter in this
sermon as words could do it.” He argues that He has been sitting there
from the time that God raised Him from the dead.
But an impartial exegesis does not necessarily make the passage teach
anything of the kind.
1. Dr. Brown follows the Authorized Version and makes the words
“raise up” in verse 30 refer to the resurrection of Christ. But:
(a) The words “raise up” must, according to preponderating manu¬
script authority, be omitted as spurious. (See Revised Versions.)
(b) Even if we accept the words, they do not, when standing by
themselves, denote a raising from the dead, but according to
usage they mean “to raise up in history”, as when God is said to
have raised up for His own purpose Moses, Cyrus or some
other historical personage.
(c) If we accept the word and give to it the meaning Dr. Brown
maintains, it does not necessarily follow that the assumption of
David's throne took place immediately upon or after the resur¬
rection.
It was necessary for Christ to be raised to sit upon David's
throne and all the passage can be said to unquestionably teach
is that this session followed the rising from the dead, but as to
how soon after the resurrection it began no hint is given. There
is all the more force in this argument when we remember that,
as Dr. Kellogg has said, “the prophets almost invariably speak
of related events, without indicating any interval of time,
whether great or small, which may elapse between them.”
CHAPTER THREE
19 Repent ye therefore, and turn
again, that your sins may be blotted
out, that so there may come seasons of
refreshing from the presence of the
Lord: 20 and that he may send the
Christ who hath been appointed for
Vers. 19-21. The Seasons of Refreshing and the Restoration of
All Things.
Ver. 19. “blotted out ”,—As the blotting out or the erasure of a
handwriting. (Col. 2.4.)
“that so”,—In order that. (M. O. D. A. Ha. Gl. Er. Kel. Wor.
Win. Chr.) The meaning of the particle absolutely forbids the old ren¬
dering of the Authorized Version.
“from the presence of the Lord ”,—God is the author of these seasons
of refreshing.
you, even Jesus: 21 whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restora¬
tion of all things, whereof God spake
by the mouth of his holy prophets that
have been from of old.
407
THE ACTS
"seasons of refreshing", —The following explanations have been
made of this expression:
1. That which connects it with the second coming of Christ, as
Alford says, ushering in the seasons of refreshing. (A. M. O. Er.
Ha. Gl. Le. Kel. Lum.)
2. The spiritual refreshing which comes from believing in Christ.
(S. Al. Kui.)
3. The deliverance of Christians at the destruction of Jerusalem.
(Li. Ham. Gro.)
4. The period of rest after death. (Schu.)
Only the first two of these views are worthy of any extended atten¬
tion. The second of these views would certainly present us with the most
natural meaning if it were not for the following things:
1. The grammatical connection with the next verse seems to demand,
as Olshausen declares, that it be connected with the second coming
of Christ. Hackett correctly says that the order of the clauses
decides nothing against this opinion, it being quite as natural to
think first of the efFect and then to assign the cause, as the reverse.
2. It is in favor of the first view that it refers the verbs " may come ”
and " may send" to the same period and event, as the close connec¬
tion of the verbs would lead us to expect.
3. The fact that the verb "come" is in the aorist tense and used in a
conditional sentence seems to refer to a definite arrival. If it had
been for repeated occurrence of refreshings the present tense would
have been used.
4. The fact that the seasons of refreshing are said to come from the
presence of the Lord is more favorable to the first than to the
second view.
We believe therefore that Gloag very properly says, "All those inter¬
pretations which refer the 'seasons of refreshing ' to anything unconnected
with the second coming of Christ are to be rejected. No other meaning
it seems to me will suit the words."
Does not this passage therefore represent the second coming of the
Lord as immediately conditioned in the divine plan by the repentance of
the Jewish nation? Does not Peter seem to directly teach that whenever
Israel repents Christ will come? Is it not true, as Alford says, that by the
expression under consideration, "is clearly meant some future refreshment
which the conversion of the Jews was to bring about"? Most authorities
are quite agreed in answering these queries in the affirmative. (A. M. O.
Ha. Gl. Kel. Lum. How.)
Alford contends that this was not only the plain inference from
prophecy but that doubtless Peter was so taught by his risen Lord, and
that this holds true even now.
If it therefore be objected that the Jews by their nonconversion are
holding back the Parousia, Alford replies that however true this may be
in fact, the truth above is fully borne out by the manner of speaking
throughout the Scriptures.
Says Olshausen, "The conversion of men therefore and the diffusion
of faith in Christ are the conditions of the speedy approach of that blessed
time, a thought which occurs again in II Pet. 3.9."
408
THE ACTS
Ver. 20. " may send”, —Contemporaneous with the " may come” of
the preceding verse.
" appointed” ,—i. e., from all eternity.
"/or you”, —i. e., as your Messiah.
Ver. 21. “whom the heaven must receive”, —This is the much more
natural and usual rendering of the verb. (A. D. M. Le. B-C, Ha. Gl. Lum.
Kui. Bez. Ern.) The other rendering which is made doubtless in the
interests of Christ's ubiquity, "who must occupy heaven", is likewise
supported by good scholars. (O. B. L. S. Hei. Ca. Lut. Wei.) But this
rendering is not only a forced one but a very unusual one, there being only
two or three instances of it and then it takes the meaning of "possessing as
property". The emphatic position of " heaven” with the particle attached
to it is quite decisive against this rendering, because, as Alford has said,
"this particle in a sentence of the present form is always attached to the
subject and never to the object".
" until the times of the restoration of all things” ,—We are inclined
to think that the reference here is to the same epoch as the times of refresh¬
ing of verse 19. (A. D. O. Ha. Gl.)
Some render, "until the times of the fulfillment of all things of which
God spake", etc. (S. Gro. Theo. Whitby.) But this is against all prece¬
dent. Some render " during the times of the restoration", etc., and explain
the passage in the sense of the present spiritual restoration which is going
on through the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men today. But
this is also without precedent altogether.
What then shall be restored? The following quotations from emi¬
nent scholars will furnish satisfactory answer to this question.
1. "All that God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets
shall be restored and placed in its original order, and in that condition
which God designed and promised." (Lechler.)
2. "It is a restoration to a state of primeval order, purity, holiness
and happiness such as will exist for those who have part in the kingdom of
Christ at His second coming." (Hackett.)
3. "I understand it of the glorious restoration of all things, the
'pallingenesia', which as Peter says here, is the theme of all the prophets
from the beginning. The key to the construction and the meaning is to
be found in our Lord’s own words, Elijah shall come and restore all
things. (Matt. 17.11)." (Alford.)
4. "There will be a moral restoration; the present disorders of this
world will be removed; the good will finally triumph over evil; holiness
and happiness will prevail throughout the world. The idea of the Apostle
seems to be that so long as the unbelief of Israel continues, Christ will
remain in heaven, but that their repentance and conversion will bring
about the times of refreshing and the restoration of all things, which will
either precede or coincide with the second coming." (Gloag.)
Meyer contends that this " restoration of all things” cannot be the
same as “the times.of refreshing”. He says the second coming of Christ
does not take place before the "restoration of all things”, and that the
“age to come ", which is the time after the second coming, is the same as
“the times of refreshing”, and is therefore a different period of time than
409
THE ACTS
that of “the restoration of all things'. The " restoration of all things”,
he says, refers to only such time as shall precede the second coming of
Christ. Therefore it cannot refer to such restorations as are mentioned in
the four views noted above, in as much as the restoration to which they
refer coincides with or immediately follows the second coming of the Lord.
“The correct explanation", says Meyer, “must start from Mai. 4.6 as the
historical seat of the expression, and from Matt. 17.11 where Christ made
it His own. Christ stays in heaven until the moral corruption of the people
of God is removed, and the thorough moral renovation of all their relations
shall have ensued. Then and then only is the exalted Christ sent from
heaven to the people and then only does there come for them the times
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. What an excitement neither
to neglect nor to defer repentance and conversion as the means to this
restoration of all things ..."
“whereof”, —This belongs to “times” and not to “all things”.
“from the beginning” ,—This is to be taken relatively; from the
earliest times of prophetic revelation.
CHAPTER TEN
42 And he charged us to preach unto
the people, and to testify that this is he
who is ordained of God to be the Judge
of the living and the dead.
Ver. 42. CHRIST AS JUDGE OF THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.
“he”, —i. e., the risen Christ.
“the people”, —It was the Jewish people that Peter doubtless had in
mind when he spoke, seeing that the context speaks of no other (verse
41). (A. M. Ha. Gl.) (See also verse 2.)
The reference must be to some unknown expression of the risen Christ
other than that referred to in Matt. 28.29, seeing that their contents are so
different. Acts 1.8 may have been in the writer's mind, but even there the
Disciples thought of the charge as referring to the Jews only.
“he”, —The Greek has the intensive form, “he, himself”, i. e., he
himself and no other.
“the living and the dead”, —The reference here is of course to those
physically alive and physically dead. Olshausen has no ground for under¬
standing here the righteous and the wicked, that is, those spiritually alive
and those spiritually dead. There is a law of interpretation which should
always be borne in mind, and that is that a figurative sense of words is
never admissible except when required by the context .
When is this judgment to take place? At the time, of course, when
He comes to judgment, at His second coming, His Parousia (M. A. Ha. Le.
Gl.), whatever may be the view one holds with regard to the succession of
events during that period.
There is nothing in this verse whatever to intimate a twofold resur¬
rection and judgment of the dead, one of the righteous dead and a later
one of the wicked dead, although it can be interpreted as quite in harmony
with such teaching if it can be shown that the same is elsewhere taught
in the Scriptures.
410
THE ACTS
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
22 confirming the souls of the dis¬
ciples, exhorting them to continue in the
faith, and that through many tribula¬
tions we must enter into the kingdom
of God.
Ver. 22. The Kingdom of God Entered Through Tribulation.
Blackstone quotes this verse as proof that the kingdom of God, the
Messianic kingdom, the Millennium was still future in the day when Paul
so exhorted the brethren.
Meyer says, "We Christians must, through many afflictions, enter
into the Messianic kingdom, the kingdom of God, to be established at the
Parousia."
Gloag likewise says that here the kingdom of God is the Messianic
kingdom, but refers it to the state of the redeemed in heaven. He says,
"As these converts had already entered the Church of Christ, and so were
members of Christ's visible kingdom, 4 the kingdom of God' here must refer
to the state of the redeemed in heaven."
"The kingdom of God is here", says Hackett, "the state of happiness
which awaits the redeemed in heaven." This expositor does not, however,
identify the expression with the Messianic kingdom, as does Gloag. Thus
also Howson, Lechler and others.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
14 Symeon hath rehearsed how first
God visited the Gentiles, to take out of
them a people for his name. 15 And
to this agree the words of the prophets;
as it is written,
1 6 ’After these things I will return,
And I will build again the taber¬
nacle of David, which is fallen;
'Am. 9.11,12
And I will build again the ruins
thereof,
And I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men may seek
after the Lord,
And all the Gentiles, upon whom
my name is called,
18 Saith the Lord, 2 who maketh these
things known from of old.
'"Or, who doeth these things which were
known
Vers. 14-18. The Restoration of the Kingdom of David and the
Calling of the Gentiles.
(See the exegesis on Amos 9.11,12.)
The royal house of David, which is here represented as a tabernacle
fallen into ruin, had been weakened by the revolt of the Ten Tribes and
reduced by repeated disasters. God promises to restore it and to make it
flourish as in olden times and to make the Gentiles a part of the theocracy.
Whatever fulfillments of this prophecy may have taken place, they
most certainly have been only very partial and its full accomplishment is
to be received only in the Messiah.
This great passage has been most aptly called "the divine program
of this age and the next", says Scofield. He says, "I must again call atten¬
tion to the words 'take out', in verse 14. It is exactly what we see. Not
the conversion of all, but the taking out of some. After this taking out,
Christ 'will return ', and then follows the conversion of the world."
411
ROMANS
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
ROMANS
(A. D. 60)
CHAPTER EIGHT
21 that the creation itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corrup¬
tion into the liberty of the glory of the
children of God. 22 For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and tra-
vaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only so, but ourselves also,
who have the first-fruits of the Spirit,
even w'e ourselves groan within our¬
selves, waiting for our adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our body. 24 For 3 in
hope were we saved: but hope that is
seen is not hope: 4 for who 6 hopeth for
that which he seeth? 25 But if we
hope for that which we see not, then
do we with 0 patience wait for it.
*0r, with us
3 Or, by
4 Many ancient authorities read for what a
man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
5 Some ancient authorities read awaiteth.
c Or, s/edfastness
Vers. 16-25. THE WHOLE CREATION AWAITS THE COMING OF CHRIST.
Ver. 17. "heirs of God", —The inheritance which God transfers to
His children is the salvation and glory of the Messianic kingdom (M.).
the kingdom of glory (R. L.). Says Lange, “As He Himself will be all
in all, so shall His children receive with Him, in His Son, everything for
an inheritance." After all, His heritage is Himself, and the best He can
give His children is to dwell in them.
"joint heirs with Christ", —It is quite natural that Paul should have
in mind here the Roman law which made all children, even adopted ones,
equal heritors (R. A. M. Tho. Fri.), rather than the Hebrew law which
gave the firstborn a double portion (L. Ph.), although the controversy, as
Schmoller says, appears somewhat pedantic. It is not so much that Christ
is the rightful heir, who shares His inheritance with the other children,
but it is as adoptive children that we get the inheritance, Christ being the
means of it, however, as it is He who gives us power to become the sons of
God.
"if so be ",— There is a latent admonition in this conditional form.
It is the order, rather than the reason, for obtaining the inheritance that is
here set forth. (C. R.) We enter into possession of the common inheri¬
tance of glory only by accepting our part of the common inheritance of
suffering. If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him. (II Tim.
2 . 11 , 12 .)
“ that we may be", — This is God’s purpose, not ours; in our case it is
the result.
16 The Spirit himself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are children of
God: 17 and if children, then heirs:
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified with
him.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed to us-ward. 19 For
the earnest expectation of the creation
waiteth for the revealing of the sons of
God. 20 For the creation was subjected
to vanity, not of its own will, but by
reason of him who subjected it, ’in hope
'Or. in hope; because the creation frc.
412
ROMANS
“also glorified with him”, —i. e., when He comes in His glory our
own glory shall then only become fully manifest, as we participate with
Him in His own glory. Hodge says this refers to the blessedness of the
future state.
Ver. 18 . “For”, —This is not to be connected alone with “glorified
with Him” (St.), but the rather with the whole of the preceding thought
which culminates in verse 17. (R. L.) It introduces a reason why the
present sufferings should not lead to discouragement.
“I reckon” ,—i. e., I judge after calculation. The thought is, I, my¬
self, as one having embraced this course, am convinced, etc.
“not worthy”, —The literal is "not of weight". The idea of our
worthiness or of any merit of our own because of the sufferings we endure
is foreign to the context, and perhaps the phrase may be better translated,
"insignificant in comparison with".
“the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward”, —i. e., at the apoca-
lypsis of Christ (A.) ; at the end of the present time, when full redemption
comes with the coming of the Lord (R.) ; at the Parousia, when the glory
which is now hidden in heaven shall be revealed.
"This glory is to be revealed," says Godet, "and is therefore already
in existence; it exists not only in the plan of God decreeing it to us, but also
in the person of Christ glorified, with whose appearing it will be visibly
displayed."
“this present time”, —Meyer says this expression marks off from the
whole of “this age” the period then current, which was to end with the
approaching Parousia, assumed as near throughout the entire New Testa¬
ment, and was thus the time of the crisis. The expression, however, does
not necessarily indicate that the Parousia was, to the Apostle's mind, near
at hand. It may imply this, but the evidence for or against the view must
be sought elsewhere.
"fo us-ward ”,—The preposition is not "en" (A-V.), but "eis", and
the idea expressed is a very pregnant one. It does not mean merely "to us"
as spectators, but "on us" and "for us" and "in us". We are, as Riddle
says, "its subjects, its possessors and its center, for even creation shares
• » M
in it .
“The glory”, says Godet, "will not consist only in our own trans¬
formation, but also in the coming of the Lord Himself, and the transfor¬
mation of the universe. Thus it will be displayed at once for ns and
in us."
Lange says, "If it is imparted through the inward life of believers and
through nature, it nevertheless comes from the future and from above."
Ver. 19. “For”, —This particle here introduces not a proof of the
certainty of the manifestation of this glory, though this secondary thought
is perhaps in the background, but it presents the proof of the transcendent
greatness of the glory mentioned.
“the earnest expectation”, —This translation comes from one of those
admirable words with which the Greek language so fully abounds and
which it so easily forms. It is composed of three elements; “the head”,
“to watt for” and the preposition “from afar”, and hence it means "to
wait with uplifted head looking toward the horizon from which the
413
ROMANS
expected object is to come ”. “An artist", says Godet, "might make a
statue of hope out of this Greek term."
"creation", —Here Campbell Morgan says, "For His coming, not only
the Church, but the whole creation, waits. Today the sons of God, as
such, are unknown, or despised and persecuted; but when the Master
comes, they will be revealed with Him—and it is for this consummation
that the earth is waiting."
There is an astonishing variety of answers given to the question as
to what the word " creation " refers to. The word in itself means the total¬
ity of created things, but it very often takes a more restricted meaning
according to the context. Among the various interpretations are the fol¬
lowing:
1. All inanimate creation. (C. Ar. Fri. Chr. Bez. Lut. Theo. Schm.)
But there is no sufficient reason why animal creation should be
excluded; and furthermore, the expressions "not of its own will"
(verse 20), and "groaneth and traoaileth" (verse 22) imply life.
2. The entire universe without any limitation.
But believers ought here to be excluded from the expression be¬
cause in verse 23 they are mentioned as forming a class by them¬
selves.
3. The entire universe excluding believers. (R.)
But unbelievers ought also to be excluded, for (1) either they will
be converted before the expected time, and will in that case be
found among the children of God, or (2) if they are not then
converted, they will not participate, even indirectly, in the glory
in question.
4. The totality of created things except humanity. This is, in view
of all the statements of the context, without doubt the correct
interpretation. (A. M. G. D. H. B. Ru. Ca. Ew. Um. Ph. Es.
Us. Le. Nea. Tho. Wol. Gro. Ire. Mel. Lap. Coc. Mai. Bis. Del.
Nie. Hof. Zah. Reic. Gloe.)
"waiteth" ,—Here is another splendid combination of words, being
formed from the verb “to receive", and two prepositions, “ek" (out of.
i. e., here, out of the hands of), and “aito" (from afar), the whole meaning
“to receive something from the hands of one who extends it to you from
afar".
"the revealing of the sons of God", —Says Hodge, "The time when
they shall be manifested in their true character and glory as His sons.
‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him’
(I John 3.2)."
Says Riddle, "The final revelation of Christ’s glory is here spoken
of as that ‘of the sons of God\ and in this glory creation shall share."
The expression is explained, says Godet, by Col. 3.4, “When Chrtst,
our life, shall be manifested, then ye also shall be manifested with Him in
glory".
This is what our Lord calls the coming of the Son of man, and it is
only the deep-seated consciousness of fellowship with Him that leads the
Apostle to use the expression “ sons of God", With the coming of Christ
414
ROMANS
the glory of creation will find its full expression; then it will be manifested
in its full glory.
Ver. 20. It was God who, in consequence of the fall of man, sub¬
jected creation to vanity, i. e., it became empty, as the word signifies; lost
its original significance, and became a prey to corruption.
“in hope", —The subjection of creation, however, was not final and
hopeless. Some consider the previous part of this verse as parenthetical
and join “in hope" with verse 19. This is permissible and has much to
commend it, but it cannot be insisted upon, and it is better to make the con¬
nection, as in our text, with “was subjected", rather than with "who sub¬
jected it”, though the sense in either case would be the same.
Of course God was not the moral cause of the curse on nature. This
belongs either to man or to Satan. This has led some (Tho. Chr. Schn.)
to refer the “him who subjected it" to Adam, while Hammond has referred
it to Satan himself. Godet, who rejects the idea of God as the author here,
inclines to the view of Hammond, though not pronouncedly so. He says
the expression, “by reason of him", with "dia” as the preposition makes
the agent, whoever he may be, the moral cause of the curse, and this he
says of course is not true of God, who is but the efficient cause of the curse.
He thinks that if the Apostle had meant Adam, or man, he could have
avoided the strange mysteriousness of the passage by simply saying, "by
reason of the man”. Then too he thinks “he who subjected" applies
hardly as well to man, who, in this event, so far as nature is concerned,
played a purely passive part.
“in hope" could, of course, only be referred to “who subjected it" in
case the subject of this clause is God. Godet therefore refers the expression
to “was subjected", and says it signifies that from the first, when this chas¬
tisement was inflicted, it was only with a future restoration in view.
Alford says this view hardly needs refutation, as it is entirely unsub¬
stantial. He says “in hope" must not be connected with “who subjected
it" (C. O. Es. Ori. Vul. Lut. Pis. Schm. Cast.), because then the hope
becomes the hope of the one who subjected nature to its curse; but with
“was subjected" (R. G. L.), the hope belonging to that which was sub¬
jected.
The sense, however, in the ultimate, a's Hodge says, amounts to the
same thing.
Ver. 21. “the bondage of corruption", —i. e., its subjection to the
law of decay; the state of frailty and degradation mentioned above.
Meyer, Riddle, Tholuck and others take the word "corrupfron” as in
apposition to “bondage" . Lange and Godet object to this, but without
good reason, as this sense preserves the proper distinctions. As Riddle
says, "The corruption is the consequence of the vanity; the unwilling sub¬
jection to a condition which is under vanity, and results in corruption, is
well termed bondage"
“into the liberty of the glory", —Not to be rendered "glorious lib¬
erty”, by which the "glorious” is merely an epithet whereby the liberty is
characterized; but, as in our text, the freedom is described, as Alford says,
as consisting in, belonging to, being one component part of, the glorified
state of the children of God; and thus the thought is carried up to the state
in which the freedom belongs.
415
ROMANS
The creation itself shall in a glorious sense be delivered into that
freedom from debility and decay in which the children of God, when
raised up in glory, shall expatiate. (C. B. D. O. H. A. M. Ph. Tho. Bez.)
The glory, says Riddle, is that which is spoken of in verse 18; it will
appear at the revelation of the sons of God.
Ver. 22. This verse introduces the proof, not of " the bondage of
corruption ’ (Zah.), nor of "the earnest expectation of creation ' (Ph.),
which is much too distant, but of the existence of the hope, “For", as
Meyer says, “if that hope had not been left to it, all nature would not
have united its groaning and travailing until now/' He further says.
“This phenomenon, so universal and so unbroken, cannot be conducted
without an aim; on the contrary it presupposes as the motive of the painful
travail that very hope toward the final fulfillment of which it is directed.’
(M. R.) The connection thus goes back to either “ in hope" of verse 20
or to the hope as expressed in verse 21. (G).
"we know", —This is an appeal to the Christian consciousness.
"together" .—The marginal rendering, “with us“, (C. Ew. Um. Kop.
Oec.) can hardly be allowed. The word comes from the preposition
"with" used in connection with each of the verbs, and verse 23 seems deci¬
sive against the marginal rendering. It denotes rather the common sigh¬
ing of all the elements, comprised in the collective expression "the whole
creation". (M. A. R. L. G. H.) “All its parts uniting and sympathiz¬
ing." (H.)
“travaileth in pain", —“All nature groans and suffers anguish, as if
in travail, over against the moment of its deliverance." As the poet says.
"She feels in her womb the leaping of a new universe."
"until now", —i. e., from the beginning until now, no reference be¬
ing made to the future, because "we know" expresses the results of experi
ence. (A. R. M. H.) The sighing and travail commenced when creation
was subjected to vanity (verse 20.)
Says Campbell Morgan. “Creation is to be freed from its groaning
and travailing in pain; the blight upon nature will be removed, and a per¬
fect manifestation of its beauty will take the place of all it now suffers in
company with fallen humanity."
Ver. 23. "And not only so",—Not only is it true that the whole
creation groaneth, etc.
"the first fruits of the Spirit ",—
(1) The first outpourings of the Spirit in point of time, the early
Christians being the recipients; the full harvest of which will be the impar-
tation of the Spirit to all believers. (M. D. O. Era. Wet. Kos. Kol. Reic.'l
Some among those who take this view restrict these firstfruits to the
Apostles alone. (Ori. Gro. Oec. Mel.)
But Godet asks what importance this difference can have for the
spiritual life, and where is a trace of such distinction to be found in the
New Testament.
(2) What all Christians now possess is but the first fruits: the harvest
will be the full outpouring of the future, i. e.. what we shall receive here¬
after. (R. H. A. C. St. Es. Ca. Ph. FI. Sem. Tho. Bez. Bis. Chr.)
416
ROMANS
Says Alford, “The reference is to the indwelling and influences of
the Holy Spirit here, as an earnest of the full harvest of His complete pos¬
session of us, body, soul and spirit, hereafter. That this is the meaning
seems evident from the analogy of St. Paul's imagery regarding the Holy
Spirit: He treats Him as an earnest and a pledge given to us, and of His
full work in us as the efficient means of our full glorification hereafter."
Godet says, however, that the Apostle is not here contrasting an im¬
perfect with a more perfect spiritual state; he is contrasting an inward state
already relatively perfect with an outward state which has not yet partici¬
pated in the spiritual renewal.
The reference, however, to the full glorification at the close of the
verse strongly favors this second view.
(3) Others again, including Godet, say that the firstfruits of our
redemption consists in the possession of the Holy Spirit Himself. (G. B.
K. L. B-C. Ru. Hof. Mai. Zah.) This places the word “Spirit” in appo¬
sition to " firstfruits”. Although usage is against this, Lange and Godet
argue strongly in its favor. Either view (2) or (3) is to be preferred,
and as between them the balance is in favor of (2).
“groan within ourselves’ ,—We, although we have the firstfruits, are
far from being complete.
“waiting for our adoption ",—We are already adopted children, but
the outward condition corresponding to this new relation is not yet com¬
plete. This, says Meyer, must wait upon the Parousia, whereupon the
“revelation of the sons of God” and their “glory” ensues.
“the redemption of our body”, —Redemption from the body (Ew.
Era. Fri. Cle. Reic.), although linguistically admissible, is altogether in¬
correct, for the whole thought of this chapter pertains not to freedom from
the body but to the glorification of the body at the coming of Christ.
At the moment of this redemption, says Meyer, the body shall be
freed from all the defects of its earthly condition; through which redemp¬
tion it shall be glorified into the incorruptible body similar to the glorified
body of Christ, or shall be raised up as such, in case of our not surviving
the Parousia.
Says Hodge, “The time of the resurrection of the body, or the mani¬
festation of the sons of God, is the time of the second advent of Jesus
Christ. (See I Cor. 13.23; I Thess. 4.16.) This is the period toward which
all eyes and all hearts have been directed, among those who have had the
firstfruits of the Spirit, since the fall of Adam; and for which the whole
creation groaneth and is in travail even until now."
Ver. 24. “For in hope we were saved”, —We must not with some
authorities identify hope and faith and find here the idea of salvation by
faith, as is implied in the marginal reading of our text. Paul always
distinguishes faith and hope (I Cor. 13.13), and he always bases salvation
on faith, from which hope thereupon proceeds. The fact of salvation
places us in a condition of which hope is a characteristic. Luther finely
says, “We are indeed saved, yet in hope." “In hope” does not express the
means by which the thing is done, but the condition or circumstance in
which it is, or the way and manner in which it occurs.
“hope that is seen ts not hope” ,—Says Riddle, “By these self-evident
statements about hope, the Apostle leads his readers up to the thought of
417
ROMANS
verse 25, which is both an encouragement and an exhortation. In the
words, "hope that is seen ", the term hope is taken for the object hoped for,
while in the words following, hope resumes its subjective meaning. Hence
the meaning of the last two propositions of the verse is quite clear and
self-evident.
"for who hopeth for that which he seeth?” —The thought here is,
"Who hopeth at all for that which he seeth?", while that of the margin is,
"Why doth a man still hope for that which he seeth?" The marginal
rendering seems the better established by manuscript authority and is prefer¬
able only for that reason, the meaning being quite the same, "Why doth
he still (yet) hope, when there is no more ground or reason for it?" (M.
L. R. G. H.)
Ver. 25. “then do we with patience wait for it ",—The idea is that
of steadfastness, which includes patience as its consequence. The hope
which the Christian has furnishes one strong motive for his patient endur¬
ance of the sufferings of this present time. Because he hopes for a glory
yet to be revealed at the coming of the Lord, he perseveringly waits for it.
CHAPTER NINE
27 And Isaiah cricth concerning Israel,
J If the number of the children of Israel
be as the sand of the sea. it is the rem¬
nant that shall be saved: 28 for the
Lord will execute his word upon the
earth, finishing it and cutting it short.
’Js. 10.22 f.
29 And. as Isaiah hath said before,
^’Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left
us a seed.
We had become as Sodom, and had
been made like unto Gomorrah.
= [s. 1.9
Vers. 27-29. The Elect Remnant of Israel.
Ver. 27. The words spoken by Isaiah of the return from captivity
of a remnant of Israel. Hosea in verse 25 speaks of the Gentile unbelievers,
but Isaiah is speaking of the rejection of Israel except the believing remnant.
“crieth”, —The word represents the impassioned manner of Isaiah,
and sets forth the bold declaration of a truth very offensive to the people.
“the remnant ”,—The article “the” before the word “remnant”
shows that it is a thing known. Indeed one of the most frequent notions
of Isaiah is that of the holy remnant which survives all chastisements of
Israel and which, coming forth from the crucible, becomes each time the
germ of a better future.
“shall be saved” ,—The Hebrew word is "shall return", that is, from
captivity; but Paul applies the phrase in its fullest sense, taking the Sep-
tuagint translation which, of course, was used in a more restricted sense.
The thought of the verse is that however numerous the people of Israel
might be, only a remnant of them are to be saved. (O. H. G. L. M. A. R.)
These authorities all reject the view of Hofmann and others who insist
that the meaning is that this remnant will certainly subsist; but this, as
Godet well remarks, is not the question at all.
Hofmann makes the passage mean that the whole of the people of
Israel which return, be they ever so numerous even like the sands of the sea
is called a remnant, because they have come out of a severe time of distress,
and that Paul rightly understood that the remnant which obtains salva¬
tion is one with the people which is as numerous as the sands of the sea.
418
ROMANS
But this is utterly inconsistent with both the original Hebrew and the idea
which the Septuagint plainly had in mind when they made their transla¬
tion; and the fact that Paul follows the Septuagint is likewise against this
view of Hofmann's.
Ver. 28. This verse explains the idea of the saved remnant. The
judgment, says Isaiah, will be a sudden and a summary execution which
will fall not upon this or that individual but upon the whole nation.
The literal Hebrew of Isaiah is, "Extirpation is decided, overfloweth
with righteousness; for extirpation and decree shall the Lord of Hosts make
in all the land."
The Septuagint translation runs, "The Lord fulfills the sentence; He
cuts short righteously (in righteousness), because He makes a rapidly
accomplished word (utterance) upon all the earth."
“word ",—This is a good translation, although "utterance" (M. A.
R.) is better still.
Godet renders it "reckoning", but this in connection with the Greek
word used would be contrary to idiom.
Others render "matter of fact". (Bez. Mel. Kop. Cast.) But this it
never denotes with Paul.
Calvin, with the Authorized Version, translates, "work", but this
also is a signification which it never has.
Olshausen, and perhaps the majority, take it in the sense of decree.
But the Greek word never means this, although this idea doubtless under¬
lies the passage and is found in the Hebrew.
"cur short",—Referring to the rapid accomplishment of what the
Lord had said.
"rn righteousness ',—This refers to the judicial justice of God which
punishes in order to save the remnant. The former thought is the promi¬
nent one, as is to be inferred both from the context and from the original.
The sense of the whole verse then is, "He (the Lord) is finishing and cut¬
ting short the utterance (making it a fact by rapid accomplishment) in
righteousness; for a cut-short utterance (one rapidly accomplished) will
the Lord make (execute, render actual) upon the earth."
The Septuagint, we feel, has preserved most fully the thought of the
original Hebrew, in fact conveying it to the mind of a reader familiar with
the Greek more clearly than could have been done by a literal rendering of
the Hebrew. It is a fact, however, that the Septuagint is a faulty transla¬
tion of the Hebrew, and because Paul quoted from the Septuagint, Meyer
and others say he endorsed an incorrect rendering of the word of God.
But the only fair way to handle such a proposition is to think that Paul
quoted wittingly, because he felt that the Septuagint conveyed his own
meaning in simple and more emphatic form, the meaning in either case
being the same.
Some interpret the whole of God's mercy, of His cutting short judg¬
ment. But this gives to righteousness the sense of mercy, and it is foreign
to the Hebrew and inappropriate here where Paul is emphasizing the fact
that only a remnant will be saved.
"The main purport of the verse", says Moule, "is clear: the prophet
foretells severe and summary judgments upon Israel such as to leave ere
long only a remnant able and willing to return."
419
ROMANS
Ver. 29. "left us a seed ",—The rescued Israelites are in Isaiah called
"a holy seed" (Isa. 6.13), because out of them, as a small beginning, the
nation shall rejuvenate itself and the true spiritual Israel shall proceed.
The Hebrew has “remnant”, but Paul follows the Septuagint, the sense
being precisely the same. The Hebrew word means “that which remains”,
and the word "seed" as used in this passage means the seed reserved for
sowing. The meaning of this saying is that without quite a peculiar
exercise of grace on the part of the Lord, the destruction as announced in
verses 27 and 28 would have been more radical still, as radical as that
which overtook the cities of the plain.
"before" ,—Some explain this word by the circumstance that in the
book of Isaiah this passage occurs before that which has just been quoted
in verses 27 and 28.
Others (A. C. Gro. Bez. Era.) refer the "before" to a preceding part
of the book of Isaiah; but this is opposed by others (M. R. D. G. Mi. B-C.
Tho.) as quite puerile. The word is used merely in the sense of a predic¬
tion and refers to the time of Isaiah as prior to that of the Apostle who is
here recording what Isaiah had before (in other days) prophesied.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
5 Even so at this present time also
there is a remnant according to the elec¬
tion of grace.
Ill say then. Did they stumble that
they might fall? God forbid: but by
their 1 fall salvation is come unto the
Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if their fall is the riches of
the world, and their loss the riches of
the Gentiles; how much more their ful-
1 Or, trespass Comp. Chap. 5.15 ff.
Vers. 5,11-15. The Elect Remnant of Israel According to
Grace.
Ver. 5. "a remnant according to the election of grace", —This refers
to the apparently insignificant number of believing Jews whom God's
grace has chosen out of the totality of the people. As God reserved to
Himself in the days of Elijah a number, larger than the prophet believed
it to be, even so now He hath graciously chosen a number, a remnant
according to the election of grace. May it not be that this number is larger
than is generally supposed? The Apostle James speaks of myriads of be¬
lieving Jews. (Acts 21.20.)
Still, it is small comparatively, and it became more and more so as
the distinctive character of the New Testament teaching came out and the
nearer the last crisis of the old order approached. The election refers not
so much to such and such individuals but to the remnant in its entirety.
"at this present time", —The time of Israel’s national rejection.
Ver. 11. "I say then", —This introduces a possible but a false con¬
clusion from verse 7 and implies a negative answer.
"Did they stumble that they might fall?" —The first verb expresses
ness? 13 But I speak to you that are
Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an
apostle of Gentiles. I glorify my min¬
istry; 14 if by any means I may pro¬
voke to jealousy them that are my flesh,
and may save some of them. 15 For
if the casting away of them is the recon¬
ciling of the world, what shall the re¬
ceiving of them be, but life from the
dead?
420
ROMANS
a shock against an obstacle while the second expresses the fall which fol¬
lows it, the first being a figure for the taking offense at Christ and the
second for being involved in everlasting destruction.
The only possible correct view of the meaning of these words is,
Did they stumble in order that they might lie prostrate, plunged into
perdition? Was their stumbling permitted by God with a view to the
fall? Was their stumbling designed to be a permanent casting them out
of the kingdom of Christ? No, says Paul.
This view is substantiated by the whole subsequent discussion in
which it shows that the Jews as a nation are to be saved. The stumbling
of the Jews was not attended with the result of their utter and final ruin
but was the occasion of the bringing of the Gospel to the Gentiles. It
was therefore not designed to lead to the former but to the latter result.
God had a double purpose—to open the gateway of salvation to the Gen¬
tiles and to provoke the Jewish nation to jealousy and thus to finally save
them. (G. R. A. M. L. H.) The primary purpose, however, if one must
distinguish, was not the final salvation of the Jews, but the rather the
gathering in of the Gentiles, which was occasioned by the stumbling of the
Jews.
“they", —The hardened ones of verse 7 gives us the nearest subject
for this word, and the fact that the verbs are plural is in favor of so taking
it, but we quite agree with Alford and Meyer that the fact that the nation
as a whole is the general subject throughout the chapter ought to incline
us to so taking it here, and the more especially since the pronoun of the
following verse favors this interpretation.
“by their fall", —While the word “fall" suggests a reference to the
previous word “fall", its reference here is more properly to the idea con¬
tained in the word “stumble" previously used, it being intended to mark a
temporary and not a final false step or falling. (R. A. M. H. Vul.)
Riddle aptly remarks, "The word ‘fall’ here must be taken as a less
strong expression than the verb which precedes it if the view be adopted
which denies the fact of a final fall. We must then hold that the national
fall into utter ruin is denied throughout, while the stumbling and the
moral fall of the individuals is admitted."
“salvation is come ",—This was the historical fact and this fact had
as its purpose the provoking of the Jews to jealousy.
“jealousy", —"emulation" is a better word.
Ver. 12.
“Now if",— The “if"
is logical, not conditional.
“riches of the world", —Enriched through the Gospel preached unto
it: so also with the Gentiles.
“loss", —The fundamental meaning of this word is, to be in a state
of inferiority, to fall below a normal state, and it may be applied quali¬
tatively or numerically.
In the qualitative sense the meaning would be, "The moral degrada¬
tion of Israel has become the cause of enriching the Gentiles." This, how¬
ever, is not only repugnant, but it would require the word “fulness" to be
taken also in a qualitative sense, i. e., their perfect spiritual state, but this in
view of verse 25 is impossible because there the idea is that of the totality
of the Gentile nations.
421
ROMANS
We must therefore accept the numerical meaning and the better trans¬
lation is “diminishing", i. e. f their diminishing to a small number of
believers. (G. M. R. L. Mo. Tho.)
“fulness ”,—This word must accordingly be conceived of as mean¬
ing the restoration of the Jewish nation to the complete state of a people,
the totality of the living members of the people of Israel at the time the
Apostle holds in his mind.
This word is here used in the sense of that with which a thing is
filled and in its application here we must regard the abstract notion of a
people as the empty frame to be filled, and the totality of the individuals
in whom this notion is realized as that which fills the frame.
Riddle says aptly, "If the diminution of Israel through unbelief has
had such a blessed result, how much more their full number when they as
a nation become believers; in other words, if the rejection of the Jews has
been the occasion of so much good to the world, how much more may be
expected from their restoration."
There are some who apply the word "loss" or "diminution" to the
believing Jews, by which reference the meaning would be, "If so small a
number of believing Jews has done so much good to the world, how much
more will the conversion of the entire nation do?" (D. B. O. B-C. Es.
Chr. Era. Bez. Wet. Reic. Theo. Bucer.) But it was the loss of the
unbelieving Jews that brought this good to the world about. Paul does
not say that the conversion of a few Jews has been the occasion of good
to the Gentiles, but the rejection of the nation had. Besides the pronoun
“their” excludes this view, because in the three propositions it can only
apply to the same subject, the Jewish people in general.
Meyer well remarks, "Through the fact that a part of the Jews was
unbelieving the people suffered an overthrow, like a vanquished army, being
weakened in numbers, inasmuch, namely, as the unbelieving portion by
its unbelief practically seceded from the people of God." Their diminution
came because of their sin, and the argument in a nutshell is, "If their sin
had done so much, how much more their conversion?"
Ver. 13. “Gentiles” ,—i. e., Gentile Christians who no doubt pre¬
ponderated in the congregation at Rome.
“glorify my ministry ”,—This does not mean to praise his office (Gro,
Lut. Reic.), but, "I strive to honor my office by its faithful discharge in
striving for the conversion and edification at all times of the Gentiles."
(D. M. R. L. A.)
Alford says that this verse gives answer to the question, "Why make
it appear as if the treatment of God’s chosen people was regulated, not by a
consideration of them, but of the less favored Gentiles?" But it is quite
unlikely that the Gentiles would raise such a question.
Godet finds in this verse a proof that the Apostle was laboring for
the ultimate benefit of the Gentiles by seeking the conversion of the Jews,
since the latter would result in life from the dead, etc.
Riddle thinks the verse is meant to meet a thought that might arise in
the minds of the Gentiles, namely, that his ministry as the Apostle to the
Gentiles had no reference to the Jews, and consequently he shows that the
blessed results to the Jews formed a part of the purpose of his labors. To
422
ROMANS
us the view of Riddle seems by far the more preferable. With it agree
both Meyer and Lange.
Ver. 14. The reason why Paul desired the conversion of the Gen¬
tiles, but of course only one of the many reasons. Since the salvation of
both classes was intimately related there was no occasion for ill feeling on
the part of either.
"As, however, Paul says, ' may save some of them’, it is clearly a
mistake to suppose that the Apostle continued, at the date of the Epistle
to the Romans, to imagine our Lord's second coming to be as near as he
had thought when he wrote to the Thessalonians. For, as appears from
verse 25, he expected the conversion of all Israel at the advent; conse¬
quently, if he had still regarded this as so near, he would have chosen some
more comprehensive expression instead of ‘some’. It might indeed be said
that Paul left the conversion of the mass of the Jews to the Twelve, and
Himself only hoped to convert some Jews incidentally to his proper work.
And if so, no conclusion could be drawn from this passage as to Paul's
views respecting the nearness of Christ’s coming. Still, the Epistle to the
Romans gives the impression that Paul no longer considered the second
coming so near." (Olshausen.)
Ver. 15. “Foe", —This introduces the reason for verses 13 and 14.
“the casting away of them", —Analogous to but not quite identical
with the “loss" or "diminishing" of verse 12. The Jewish nation was.
as Paul here asserts, by reason of its rejection of Christ, under temporary
exclusion.
“the receiving of them" ,—Referring to their reception to and partici¬
pation in salvation by their conversion.
“life from the dead", —There is no doubt that Paul had here in mind
something beyond "the reconciliation of the world", some greater blessing
than the gradual conversion of the Gentiles through the Gospel, and this,
whatever it was, he terms, “life from the dead".
There are two views as to the meaning.
1. The literal resurrection which, it is said, is to follow the conver¬
sion of the Jews. (M. D. Ru. To. Hof. Era. Ori. The. Chr.
Sem. Fri. Bey, Nie. Theo. Gloe. Reic.) Meyer says, "It is the
blessed resurrection life which will set in with the Parousia.
(I Thess. 4.14-17.)
But there are serious objections to this view, as follows:
(a) The lack of evidence in the Bible that the literal resurrection
will immediately follow the conversion of the Jews.
“Life" has often a wider signification than “resurrection",
and why did Paul not use the word “resurrection" if he had a
literal resurrection in mind?
(c) Why did he not use the article "the" before the word “life",
which he doubtless would have done if he had meant to
refer to an event to which he so often refers elsewhere.
(d) Paul has in view a blessing to the Gentiles through the Jews
and a literal resurrection or even the resurrection life would
be in no way peculiar to the Gentiles.
423
ROMANS
(e) There is a causative connection just as in the previous clause,
but how could this be if “life'’ meant literal resurrection?
(f) Paul does not say the second event will follow closely upon
the first, but he goes the length of identifying the two facts
of which he speaks ,—"What shall the reception be but a
life ”, etc .
2. It is evident therefore from the above reasons that the expression
must be applied to a powerful spiritual revival which will be
wrought in the heart of Gentile Christendom by the fact of the
conversion of the Jews. (R. B. C. G. Mo. Le. B-C. Ca. Ph. Aug.
Mel. Bez. Cra. B oe. Mai. Car. Theo. Bucer.) Philippi says
it is “at once the extensive diffusion of the kingdom of God and a
subjective revivification of Christendom which had become largely
dead”.
There are far less objections to the spiritual view than to the literal
one.
To combine the two views seems improper (A. L. O. Um. Ew.),
viz., “the final completion of all history down to and including the literal
resurrection” (Ew.), “a spiritual resurrection which is succeeded by the
bodily resurrection” (L), or which takes place in the bodily resurrection
(O.). Some take the expression metaphorically, “the highest joy” (H.
Kol. Kop. Ham. Oec. Gro.) ; “a joy like that of the resurrection” (St.).
But this is a toning down of the words hardly warranted.
Some apply the phrase to the blessedness of Gentile Christendom in
consequence of the conversion of the Jews (G.), while others limit it to
the Jews themselves (FI. Tho. Bez. Theo. Hengle), but we prefer the
wider reference to the entire body of believers, although there is much to be
said in favor of the first application.
Auberlen says, “A new life in the higher charismatic fullness of the
Spirit shall extend from God's people to the nations of the world, com¬
pared with which the previous life of the nations must be considered dead.”
Godet says, “We are little affected by the objection of Meyer, who
says that according to Saint Paul the last times will be times of tribulation,
those of the Antichrist, and not a time of spiritual prosperity. We do not
know how the Apostle conceived the events. It seems to us, however,
that according to the Apocalypse, the conversion of the Jews must precede
the coming of the Antichrist and consequently also precede the coming of
Christ.”
25 For I would not. brethren, have
you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be
wise in your own conceits, that a
hardening in part hath befallen Israel,
until the fulness of the Gentiles be come
in; 26 and so all Israel shall be saved.
Vers. 25,26. All Israel Yet to be Saved.
Ver. 25. “For”,—Paul is saying in the use of this particle that he
does not rest this announcement that the Jews shall be grafted in again on
mere hope or probability, but that he has a direct revelation from the Holy
Spirit as to the matter, which decisive proof is to be found in the prophetic
announcement not to be made.
“mystery ",—A thing undiscovered by men themselves and which
424
ROMANS
is made known to them by revelation from God. Paul seems to be assum¬
ing that the contents of this mystery were as yet unknown to his readers.
(R. A. M. H. Mo.)
"lest ye be wise in your own conceits’, —They should not hold for
truth their own views on the expulsion of the Israelitish people, taking
credit for wisdom superior to the Jews in having acknowledged and
accepted Christ, and therefore dismissing the subject, careless whether there
were or were not any future mercy for Israel in the divine plan.
“that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel ”,—-The word " hard¬
ening” is used instead of "hardness’' because it is a process rather than a
state that is indicated. The word " that” introduces the content of the
mystery which extends to the word “saved” in verse 26.
“in part”, —This may be taken extensively (M.) f or it may be taken
intensively, as our text seems to take it. Meyer would join the word to
the verb, “hath befallen”, whereas if taken intensively it should be joined
preferably to “hardening”, but in neither case to “Israel” (Es. Sem. Kop.
Fri.). It seems better to take the expression intensively, inasmuch as
the whole nation became unbelieving, and not a part of it. It is intended
to soften the severity of the notion which Paul graciously calls to their
attention.
“until the fulness ”,—Most commentators agree in referring this
phrase to the totality of the Gentiles, to the nation as a whole, although
some refer it to the complement from the Gentiles which is to take the
place of the rejected Jews (O. Mi. Ph. Wol.) ; but this seems unnatural.
The expression is to be taken numerically, not that every individual
shall be saved but that the nation as a whole shall be.
Meyer says this is before the Parousia and not by means of it.
Ver. 26. “all Israel” ,—This does not mean the great majority (Ru.
Tho. Fri. Wet. Oec.), nor does it mean all the true people of God. (C.
Gro. Lut. Aug. The.), nor yet "all the elect Jews"; all that part of the
nation which constitutes the remnant according to the election of grace
(O. B. Ca.), but it refers to the nation as a whole. (H. A. M.)
Says W. J. Erdman, "This ' all Israel J or sum total of the believing
nation is called in a previous message ' their fulness ' and the argument is
that when Israel is converted the whole Gentile world also will be con¬
verted."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 1 And this, knowing the season,
that already it is time for you to awake
out of sleep: for now is 'salvation nearer
to us than when we first believeth. 1 2
’Or, our salvation nearer than whan &c.
Vers. 11,12. The Coming of the Lord Drawing Near.
Ver. 11. “And this”, —i. e., "let us do this", namely, live in no
debt but that of love (verse 8), and that for other reasons, but especially
for the following one. (H. A. M. R. B. Ph. Tho.)
Because of the remoteness of verse 8 and the fact that there is no special
connection between it (the duty of justice) and what follows in this verse
before us, Godet and Moule make the expression refer to all the foregoing
The night is far spent, and the day is
at hand: let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on
the armor of light.
425
ROMANS
precepts enumerated in Chapters 12 and 13. The former explanation,
however, is to be preferred.
“knowing the season", —The word is “kairos", which does not mean
time in general, but a portion of time considered as an appropriate period
of time; the reference being therefore to the general character of the time.
“sleep", —The state of worldly carelessness and indifference to sin.
“for now is salvation nearer to us", —The reference is to the Messianic
salvation in its completion as introduced by the Parousia. (M. A. G. R.
L. O. D. Mo. Ph. Tho., and nearly all German commentators.) It does
not therefore refer to deliverance by death (Pho.), nor to the Destruction
of Jerusalem, a fortunate event for Christianity (Mi.), nor to the preach¬
ing among the Gentiles (Mel.), nor to “the inner spiritual salvation of
Christianity (Ca. FI. Mor. Schr.).
Riddle says, “It is difficult for an unlettered believer to read the New
Testament and not find this expectation of the second coming, while even
the most learned now find it."
Stuart, Hodge and others, on the other hand, understand the verse as
the consummation of salvation in eternity—deliverance from this present
evil world. They object to the reference to the second coming of Christ,
and Stuart is shocked at it as being inconsistent with the inspiration of
Paul’s writings.
“But," says Alford, “because Paul in II Thess. 2 corrects the mistake
of imagining it to be just at hand or even already actually come is no
sign that he did not expect it soon." Alford says that to argue this is
quite beside the purpose. On the certainty of the event, he says, our faith
is grounded; by the uncertainty of the time our hope is stimulated and our
watchfulness is aroused.
“than when we believed", —When we were brought into the faith.
Ver. 12. “the night", —The time before the Parousia, which ceases
when the Parousia ushers in the day. Night and day are therefore figures
for “this age" and “the age to come".
Most all of the more recent commentators now, in keeping with all
the most ancient commentators, admit that the reference is not to the
approach of the end of the earthly life, but that it without doubt refers to
the Parousia.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
20 And the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly.
Ver. 20. God’s SUMMARY DEALING WITH THE EVIL ONE.
This is a similitude from Genesis 3.15. There is not here the expres¬
sion of a wish, but it is a prophetic assurance and encouragement in bearing
up against all adversities, that the great Adversary himself would shortly
be bruised under their feet.
“God of peace" ,—This is said with a reference to the division and
strife caused by those mentioned in verse 17.
“bruise under your feet", —This refers to the triumph over error, sin
and death and final deliverance from all trial of each of His followers, and
426
I CORINTHIANS
is to be interpreted in keeping with that interpretation of the word
"shortly” which sees in it not necessarily any reference to the time of the
Parousia.
"shortly” ,—It is maintained, and rightly, by most authorities that
there is here not necessarily implied any reference to the return of Christ.
The expression for "shortly” is usually translated by “soon", which would
signify “at a time near when I write you". It is because of this that
Schultz and many others find here the idea of Christ's near return. But
the word here is “tachus" (shortly) and this word and its derivatives do
not denote imminence, nearness of the event. They denote rather the
swiftness with which the event is accomplished. The Greek word
“euthus" denotes imminence. “We think also that it is wrong to translate
Rev. 22.20, 7 come soon (my arrival is near)'; the meaning is rather, ‘I
come quickly', that is to say, ‘I move rapidly even though my arrival may
be yet a great way off'. Paul means therefore that the victory will be
speedily gained when once the conflict is begun, and not that the victory
itself is near". (Godet.)
Meyer explains, “When the authors of division appear among you".
Shedd refers it to the preservation from the fatal errors that soon
assailed Christianity.
Riddle says the word for “ shortly” is usually taken in the sense of
“soon", no matter to what the reference of the passage is applied.
Moule says, “In the eternal day so near at hand (Chap. 13.11,12)
when all enemies shall be made the footstool of the Messiah and of His
saints through Him".
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
CORINTHIANS
(A. D. 59)
CHAPTER ONE
7 so that ye come behind in no gift,
waiting for the revelation of our Lord
Jesus Christ; 8 who shall also confirm
you unto the end, that ye be unreprov-
able in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Vers. 7,8. WAITING THE COMING OF CHRIST AN EVIDENCE OF
Christian Maturity.
Ver. 7. "waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ ”,—
This waiting was one of the results of their not being behind ("come
behind”) , and is a proof of the maturity and richness of their spiritual life.
This is by far the simplest and most satisfactory explanation and it is thus
taken as a parallel clause with the one that precedes it.
Paul is not therefore trying to alarm them by the thought of ap¬
proaching judgment (Chr.), as this would not be very appropriate for a
427
I CORINTHIANS
thanksgiving; nor is it a reproof to those who deny the resurrection (Ru.
Gro.), since he is not here talking of the resurrection but of the Second
Coming; nor yet is it an ironical reference to the fancied perfection of
the Corinthians (Mos.), for this is inconsistent with the friendly, winning
style of the introduction. A commendation is intended. Some take it as
an encouragement to them. i. e.. as those who are waiting the Lord's advent
with confidence, for ye possess all the graces that suffice for that time. But
this goes farther than the contents of the Epistle warrant.
“revelation'', —The Greek is "apocalypsis" and it means to uncover,
unveil, disclose. It is used seven times of Christ's return and is used of
both the blessed aspect and the punitive side of that event.
Ver. 8. “who”, —Many refer this to “God” of verse 4. (A. O. D.
Ew. FI. Os. Hof. Bil. Pot. Schr.) We must, however, decide for the
more immediate connection with “Christ” of verse 7. The word “God”
at the beginning of verse 9 favors the reference to “Christ” in verse 8.
The other view makes the whole passage from verses 5 to 7 a mere paren¬
thesis. The repetition of the expression, “the day of the Lord Jesus
Christ” , in verse 8 is not at all an insurmountable barrier to the view we
have taken, inasmuch as it was a customary, and solemn formula.
“also”, —This word implies a continuation of that which had already
been wrought in them.
“unto the end”, —The reference is not to the end of one's life, but
to the end of the present dispensation, to the Second Coming of Christ.
“that ye may be unreprovable”, —i. e., liable to no accusation. This
is not only because of a reputed righteousness, but since he is speaking of
their condition at the appearing of Christ it is to be taken likewise in the
sense of an actual or perfected holiness.
“the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”, —-The decisive day of His Second
Coming This day as related to the Parousia is not quite the same as the
day of the Lord. The former relates always to saints and their reward
while the latter relates to sinners and their punishment. Erdman says,
"The transactions associated with ' the day of Christ’ or ' the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ', in every Scripture where it is found, pertain exclusively
to the risen and transfigured Church and are radiant with holy joy and
triumphant blessedness; but the events associated with ' the day of the
Lord', both in the Old Testament and in the New, concern especially the
Jews and the nations of an apostate Christendom, and are dark with the
wrath of God upon the wicked."
CHAPTER THREE
13 each man’s work shall be made
manifest; for the day shall declare it,
because it is revealed in fire; ’and the
fire itself shall prove each man's work
of what sort it is.
'Or, aril each man's work, of what sort it is,
the fire shall frove it.
Ver. 13. Every Man’s Ministry Made Manifest at the Coming
of the Lord.
“shall be made manifest ",—It shall not remain hidden.
I CORINTHIANS
“the day shall declare it”, —This docs not refer to time in general
(FI. Gro. Wol. Vor.), nor to the time of dear knowledge of the Gospel
(C. Era. Bez. Vor.), nor the day of tribulation (Ca. Aug.), nor least of
all that never ending refuge of poor critics, the day of Jerusalem's destruc¬
tion (Li. Ham. Scho.), for what had those Corinthians to do with that?
But it refers, as nearly all commentators of our time maintain, to the day
of the Parousia of the Lord, the Second Advent. (M. A. G. O. D. B. Ew.
Os. Ru. Hof. Hey. Kli. Bil. Pot. The. Chr. Ter. Schr. Schot.)
“it is revealed in fire”, —What is revealed in fire? We prefer to think
of the “day” as the subject, the thought, if not the words, being in keeping
with II Thess. 1.8; II Pet. 3.10-12. (H. O. D. M. A. Es. Ru. Ew. Wor.
Pot. Bil. Hof.)
Others, and in fact the majority, make “work” the subject, saying
that the day is never spoken of as being revealed. This view, however,
make an intolerable tautology with the following proposition.
“in fire”, —The element in which the day will be revealed. The
reference, in keeping with the passages above quoted, seems to be to literal
fire, but this fire, the bursting forth of which will perhaps be the visible
herald of Christ's coming, is but as the symbol of that “fiery” judgment
which shall search to the bottom every case, as immediately expressed.
This is not the fire of “hell” into which the costly stones will never enter,
but the fire of judgment in which Christ will appear and by which all
works will be tried.
“and the fire itself shall prove ”,—Godet rightly says, "It must not be
forgotten that the building to be proved exists only figuratively, and conse¬
quently the fire which is to put it to the proof can only be figurative fire.
The term can therefore only here denote the incorruptible judgment pro¬
nounced by the omniscient and consuming holiness of the Judge who
appears. His Spirit will thoroughly explore the fruit due to the ministry
of every man."
CHAPTER FOUR
5 Wherefore judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come, who will
both bring to light the hidden things
of darkness, and make manifest the
counsels of the heart; and then shall
each man have his praise from God.
Ver. 5. Judgment of Christ's Servants to Await His Coming.
“judge nothing”, —i. e., with respect to me. Refrain from all pre¬
mature decisions concerning me, says Paul.
“before the time”, —Explained by the following, “until the Lord
come ”.
“until the Lord come ”,—The verb is subjunctive, and in the expres¬
sion “until” there is a particle which designates the coming as problematic,
not as to the fact of His coming but as to the time of it, i. e., until the
Lord come, whenever that may be.
“both ”,—Many translate this "also", i. e., among other things He
will also. (M. A. Ru. Os. Kli.) Godet renders it "even". Either of
429
I CORINTHIANS
these translations is permissible, but “both” is preferable. The strength¬
ening force of “even" is uncalled for, and as to the calling attention to
other things, we are tempted to ask what they are, and can see no reason
for bringing them into the passage.
“the hidden things of darkness”, —All things in general, the good as
well as the bad things which are hidden in darkness. (M. O. H. G.) (Rom.
2.16.)
“the counsels of the heart”, —The motives and purposes by which
men are governed.
“his praise”, —The praise which is his due,—commendation.
Alford says Paul has in mind the boastings among themselves, the
various parties giving exaggerated praise to certain teachers; let them wait
until the day when fitting praise will be given, be it what it may.
Meyer thinks that Paul speaks of praise only because he has in mind
only Apollos and himself, and therefore leaves out of sight the undeserving.
The view of Alford is good, but perhaps that of Meyer is a little safer.
CHAPTER FIVE
5 to deliver such an one unto Satan
for the destruction of the flesh, that the
spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus.
Ver. 5. Redemption of the Spirit in the Day of the Lord's
Coming.
“deliver to Satan for the destruction of the flesh”, — (See I Tim. 1.20
for the only similar expression.)
1. Excommunication pure and simple. (C. O. Ow. Bez. Hei. Bon.
Tur. Poo.)
2. A handing over to Satan for corporeal infliction, as in the case of
Job, without excommunication. (Li. Hof. Hols.) Godet finds
it a sentence of death.
3. Excommunication with bodily punishment added through the
disciplinary power of Satan let loose upon the offender by the
Apostle, i. e., through the Apostle’s apostolic authority and power.
(H. A. M. Os. Ru. Bar. The. Chr.) This view is by far the
more preferable. It is clearly revealed in Scripture that bodily
afflictions are often brought about by the agency of Satan, and it
is also dear that the Apostles were invested with the power of
miraculously inflicting such evils. (Acts 5.1,11; 13.9-11; I Cor.
10.8; 13.10.)
“for the destruction of the flesh”, —This is taken by many in the
moral sense of the word, that is to say, of the sinful tendencies in conse¬
quence of the pain and repentance produced in him by his expulsion, (Es.
Gro. Bez. Ger. Bon. Brow.)
But,—
(a) “destruction” is never used in a beneficient sense, but always in a
threatening one involving real loss.
(b) Such a delivering over to Satan might have an effect opposite
to that of repentance.
430
I CORINTHIANS
(c) The connection points to an operation of Satan.
(d) It is opposed by the antithesis between “flesh” and “spirit”.
These objections incline Alford, Meyer and others to the view of
Chrysostom, that the sinful, fleshly nature is intended, the working-place
of his desires and lusts, which was to be emptied of its enemy of sinful life
by the pains of bodily sickness. This is without doubt the correct inter¬
pretation.
Godet argues that since “spirit” refers not to spiritual life but to the
spirit itself, so “flesh” does not mean the fleshy life, but the flesh itself
and that therefore the destruction of the man's earthly existence (death) is
what is involved. This is possible, both from the meaning of the word
and from example (Ananias and Saphira), but this presses the case seem¬
ingly too far and hardly accords with the ethical relations of it. To meet
this objection Godet says the reference is to a wasting disease, giving the
man time to repent.
“that the spirit may be saved”, —The discipline was for a wholesome
effect, the punishment being in reality a merciful one.
“in the day of the Lord Jesus”, —The day of the approaching
Parousia, the time, says Godet, “when Jesus will appeal again on the earth
to take to Him His own". Some authorities omit the word “Jesus”, but
the evidence is weightier in favor of its retention.
CHAPTER SIX
2 Or know ye not that the saints
shall judge the world? and if the world
is judged by you. are ye unworthy ’to
judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye
J Gr. of the smallest tribunals
Vers. 2,3. The Saints to Sit in Judgment on the World.
Ver. 2. “Or know ye not”, —A formula used ten times in this
Epistle and alluding no doubt to doctrines he had taught them at the time
of the founding of their church.
“the saints shall judge the world” ,—This means as assessors of Christ
at His coming. (A. C. O. D. M. G. Es. Ru. Bez. Gro. Wol. Bil. Kli.
Stan. Brow.) All attempts to elude this plain meaning of the words are
futile. Some of them are the following:
1. An indirect judgment as in Matt. 12.21, “ The men of Ninevah
shall rise up in judgment against this generation” . (Wor. Chr.
Era. Theo.)
2. The saints will merely assent to the judgment pronounced by
Christ. (Es. Bar. Mai.)
3. The saints' particular ability to estimate here and now the value
of the world's opinions and doings, in the sense of Chap. 2.15,16.
4. It refers to the general notion of the Kingdom and glory of be¬
lievers yet to come. (FI.)
5. The saints are to possess as the princes and rulers of the world
judicial functions in the future; that is, the Gospel will some day
become supreme and the courts of law will be composed of Chris¬
tians,
not that we shall judge angels? how
much more things that pertain to this
life?
431
I CORINTHIANS
The objections to these several views are at once apparent. This is
the only direct enunciation of this truth, but it i$ in perfect harmony
with the conclusions elsewhere furnished.
What was said in Matt. 19.28 of the Apostles is here extended to the
saints in general, and Paul is speaking of such judicial work of the saints
as is ascribed to them in Daniel 7.22. (O. A. G. M. Kli.)
"if the world is judged by you", —Those for whom the idea of the
saints judging the world, in the sense we have taken the passage, is intoler¬
able, try to escape this conclusion by putting such stress upon the present
tense of the verb "judge" in this clause and upon the meaning of the prepo¬
sition translated "by".
But the previous word "judge" is future as well as the word "judge"
in the next verse, and these control the word "judge" in the intervening
clause, which here expresses, as Godet says, "not an actual fact, but a prin¬
ciple", and consequently, as Olshausen says, "there can be no reference to a
present function of believers", but, as Meyer and Alford maintain, that
the saints are to be the judges sitting in judgment.
They would further have us believe that the preposition means "in ",
i. e., in your example. The preposition is indeed "en", but its real mean¬
ing is "among", in your midst, and therefore "before you". It is the
expression meaning to be "judged before", as found in all classic Greek,
and means here not "through" (Gro. Bil.), nor "in" (Chr.), but "before
you" , although "by you," as in the text, gives the meaning quite appro¬
priately.
"to judge the smallest matters", —Since the original Greek, as in the
margin ("of the smallest tribunals") makes fine sense we see no reason
for the change in the text. The idea is then, "Are ye unworthy of holding
or passing judgment in such inferior courts?" The word translated "mat¬
ters" can hardly be said to mean this. It means first, "tribunal" or place
of trial, and then the trial itself, but it never means the matter of dispute.
Meyer takes the word in its second sense and translates, "Are ye un¬
worthy to hold judgment in very trivial trials?" Hither this, or the ren¬
dering of the margin is proper, but that of the Revised Version, while it
expresses the idea all right, is contrary to all usage. The world to be
judged by the saints can only designate those who have rejected the Gospel
appeal.
As to the saints judging the world, Klieforth says, "Whatever these
functions may be, the language which describes them plainly implies the
exercise of an active supremacy in the affairs of the world."
Hodge, Barnes and other post-millennialists, of course, refer this to
the last judgment, the future and final judgment at the end of all time,
but by others, and the very great majority, it is referred to judging with
Christ during His kingdom of millennial reign.
Ver. 3. "we shall judge angels", —Many authorities think that good
angels are here meant and that they are to be judged for their service, their
ministry (Heb. 1.14) for which they are to render account. (M. A. H.
G. Kli. Brow.) They say that the word "angels" always means good
angels. But this is not true, since in II Peter the word is used and means
without any doubt bad angels.
432
I CORINTHIANS
Others, and the majority, say that bad angels are meant. (B. C. Ca.
Bez. Poo. Era. Oec. The. Theo.)
It is maintained by some that both good and bad angels are meant.
(O. Lap. Hof. Bes.)
There is nothing of a more detailed nature on the subject in Scripture,
but the interpretation of "bad angels" best accords with the word "world",
and besides nowhere is it taught in Scripture that the elect angels are to be
judged for their ministry. This, together with the fact that good angels
are represented as furnishing a part of Christ's retinue in judgment, and
as acting the part of organs and witnesses of His judicial work, induces us
to the opinion that bad angels are intended here.
Godet says it is worthy of note that in the parables of the tares and
ihe drag-net it is the angels who effect the division between the good and
the bad, while here the saints are said to judge the angels, and apparently
therefore bad angels.
Lightfoot says the only thing that is meant is that the influence of
the kingdom of Satan is to be destroyed by Christianity. But with such
exegesis the Apostle may be made to say anything.
Some make the first clause a question and the second one an exclama¬
tion; others make the whole one question with a comma after "angels",
while still others take the two clauses as two questions. Either method of
punctuation is admissible, but we prefer that first mentioned.
CHAPTER SEVEN
29 But this I say, brethren, the time
Ms shortened, that henceforth both those
that have wives may be as though they
had none: 30 and those that weep, as
though they wept not; and those that
Or, is shortened henceforth, that both those
&c.
Vers. 29-31. Sundry Exhortations Based on the Near Approach
of the Lord's Return.
Ver. 29. "the time is shortened", —The word "shortened" means
contracted, compressed, brought within narrow limits. (M. A. G. D. Os.
Ew. Wei. Hof. Mai.) Some take it as meaning "calamitous". (O. Ru.
FI. Pot. Ros. Hey. Nea. Schu.) But it never has this signification. In
the passages they refer to, it means humbled, cast down, but this is as
applied to persons, and this definition cannot be applied to time.
"the time", —This does not refer to the space of a man's life on
earth (C. Es. Vor.), for however true this thought and however legitimate
this application, it certainly is not the thought in the mind of Paul, nor
does it agree with his usage elsewhere of the word (Rom. 13.11; Eph.
5.16), nor with that of the great prophecy of the Lord which is the key to
this chapter (Luke 21.8; Mark 13.33). It is the time between the mo¬
ment he was speaking to the coming of the Lord that was compressed into a
small space according to the literal meaning of "shortened ".
"henceforth" ,—The connection here is disputed. Some make it be¬
long to what follows. (H. C. M. Ti. Ru. Es. Ter. Jer. Vul. Era. Lut.
Hey. Bio. Hof. Lach. and both the Revised and Authorized Versions.)
rejoice, as though they rejoiced not;
and those that buy, as though they pos¬
sessed not; 31 and those that use the
world, as not using it to the full; for
the fashion of this world passeth away.
433
I CORINTHIANS
Others refer it to what precedes. (A. G. O, D. Pe. Os. Ew. Chr. The. Gro.
Bez. Bil. Mai. Nea. Theo.) The first view is preferable inasmuch as
the second view hardly gives to the word its full and legitimate meaning.
The punctuation of the Revised Version is much to be preferred as
that of the Authorized Version breaks the continuity of the passage, leaves
the word " henceforth" to stand alone and does not give to it its full and
true sense.
“that" ,—This introduces the design of the shortened time on God’s
part. (M. A. H. Kli.) It depends therefore upon “shortened" and not
upon “this I say" (Bez. Hof. Bil.), as it is not the end of his assertion he
has in view, but the rather of the thing asserted.
The idea in what follows is that each one should keep himself in¬
wardly independent of the relations of his earthly life. They must not
rob us of our moral freedom nor of our standing as a Christian in heart
and life. He is not laying down rules, that the married ought to be as
though unmarried. Meyer well says it is, “In order that those who wait
for the coming kingdom may keep themselves loose in heart from worldly
relationships and employments; that the married may not fetter his inter¬
ests to his wedlock, nor the mourner to his misfortunes, nor the joyous
to his prosperity, nor the man of commerce to his gain, nor the user of the
world to his use of the world/'
“for the fashion of this world passeth away" ,—This, says Alford,
shows again that in the Apostle’s mind the time was short, while Godet
says, “It is connected by 'for* with the preceding ' the time is shortened’,
and we are obliged to apply it to the near coming of the Lord.”
Klieforth remarks, “This does not refer to the transitoriness of earthly
things in general, but to the mighty revolution attendant upon the advent
of Christ—the entire vanishing or destruction of the form of this world,
its outward appearance and mode of existence. This great change presents
itself as one close at hand and he therefore speaks of it as present.”
Meyer says, “It refers to the world-embracing catastrophe of the
Parousia, the transformation of the form of this world, and therewith of
its whole temporal constitution into the new heavens and the new earth.”
The word “ fashion 9 does not therefore mean, as some say, worldly
affairs in general, but it refers to the present external form or state of things,
and this expression seems to prove that this world itself will not disappear,
but that it will take on a new mode of existence and development.
It is hard to read this whole passage and understand how anyone can
but feel that Paul thought the Parousia not very far away. Calvin says,
“Without doubt Paul wrote these words in expectation of a near and ap¬
proaching transformation of the fashion of this world, and the introduc¬
tion of the age to come with the kingdom of God.”
It must not, however, be overlooked that in the selection of the par-
ticular word here used for time, Paul did not perhaps have in mind so much
the idea of duration as of favorable, opportune time, the time in which one
can yet prepare himself for the great change which is one day to take place.
434
I CORINTHIANS
CHAPTER TEN
11 Now these things happened unto
them *by way of example; and they
were written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the ages are come,
'Gr. by way of figure
Ver. 11. The Ends of the Ages Coincident with the Present
Dispensation.
“by way of example”, —The literal is “typically", but our text ex¬
presses the correct thought, and the idea of type is not to be taken in a
theological sense.
“upon whom the ends of the ages are come”,—“ages” is plural, indi¬
cating the great epochs in which all history is unfolded, “ends” is also
plural, indicating the successive terminations of the several epochs. (See
such references as Heb. 1.1; 9.26; Matt. 13.39; 25,3; I Cor. 1.8; 15.24;
I Peter 4.7; 1.20 and I John 2.18.)
Meyer says, “Upon the supposition of the Parousia being close at
hand the last times of the world were now come; the ages were running
out their final course; with the Parousia, the ages to come begin to run."
”are come”, —The ages are represented as coming to meet the living
(G.), into whose lifetime they are entered (Kli.) ; they have reached unto
us, have fallen upon our lifetime and are now here (M.).
Neander says, “Paul had always good reason for considering the final
catastrophe as near at hand, although he held the last time to be shorter
than it really was."
Paul, however, did not himself know or pretend to know the duration
of this final period in the culmination of the ages, this present dispensation
of which he was speaking, and which in his mind coincided with the de¬
velopment of the Church; but the phrase, ”the ends of the ages”, shows
that he did not regard it as short as is commonly alleged that he did. (See
also Chap. 7.29.)
CHAPTER ELEVEN
26 For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink the cup, ye proclaim the
Lord’s death till he come.
Ver. 26. The Lord's Supper a Pledge of His Coming Again.
Paul here proceeds in his own words.
”ye proclaim the Lord's death”, —You do solemnly declare in con¬
nection with this ordinance that Christ has died for you. The word
“proclaim” is by no means to be taken as imperative (Ew. Ru. Gro. Lut.
Hols.), but as indicative. (M. A. G.)
“until he come”, —The Holy Supper is the link between the two
comings of Christ; the monument of the first and the pledge of the second.
It is the compensation of the Church for the absence of her Lord. When
He comes it will be discontinued. It is connected with remembrance, and
remembrance ceases when the Lord appears.
435
I CORINTHIANS
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
that are Christ’s, at his 2 coming. 24
Then cometh the end, when he shall
deliver up the kingdom to a God, even
the Father; when he shall have abolished
all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put
all enemies under his feet. 26 The last
enemy that shall be abolished is death.
‘Or,// in this Life only we have hoped in
Christ &>c.
3 Gr. presence
Vers. 20-26. The Order of the Resurrection.
Ver. 20. " But now ”, —i. e., as the matter stands the case is far
otherwise.
“the first fruits of them that are asleep ”,—“The allusion”, says
Brown, “is as obvious as it is beautiful.” On the morrow after the first
Sabbath of the Passover (Easter Sabbath) a sheaf of the first fruits of the
barley harvest was reaped and waved before the Lord as a joyful pledge
of the full harvest to come. Even so on the morrow after the first Sabbath
of the Passover when our Lord was crucified, did He rise, the first fruits of
His sleeping people.
It is probable, from many considerations, that such a reference was in
Paul’s mind, but since he indicates nothing more minutely the matter must
be left undecided.
The resurrections from the dead recorded in the Old Testament and
the translations of Enoch and Elijah do not contradict what is here said of
Christ as the first fruits, because in the case of the former there was no
arising to an immortal life, and in the case of the latter there was no dying,
and so a resurrection could not occur. (Rev. 1.5 and Col. 1.18.) In the
first fruits is contained not only the idea of the earliest, but of the most
costly and the pledge of a full resurrection harvest, and as such dedicated
to God.
“them that are asleep ’’,— Who are meant? Inasmuch as the ex¬
pression is that used in the New Testament of the death of saints always
and the idea of fellowship with Christ as the first fruits, and as the totality
of believers seems to be the thing conceived of, we think here only of
departed saints. However, the word “ dead ” in the next verse might seem
to refer the expression to the dead in general. The matter must be decided
by an exposition of what follows where the explanation of this verse is
made, first in a divine rule that what has been taken away from us by man
shall by man also be restored to us. Note, however, that if the expression
be restricted to the departed saints, it is not thereby said that Christ is not
the raiser also of the unbelieving dead. He is not, however, their first
fruits.
Ver. 21. “ death ' 4 , —As death here is physical so also by the “ resur ¬
rection of the dead ” is meant the resurrection of the body. Hodge, while
making this the primary reference, declares that the expression involves also
the moral death and the moral life. But of this Paul says nothing here,
although it is of course true.
20 But now hath Christ been raised
from the dead, the firstfruits of them
that are asleep. 21 For since by man
came death, by man came also the resur¬
rection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam
all die, so also in 'Christ shall all be
made alive. 23 But each in his own
order: Christ the firstfruits; then they
J Gr. the Christ
436
I CORINTHIANS
Says Meyer, "The evil which arose through a human author is by
divine arrangement removed also through a human author."
Ver. 22. As verse 21 was the ground and explanation of verse 20,
so verse 22 gives the reason for verse 21.
"in Adam all die”, —That this includes the whole human race all
expositors agree.
"in Christ shall all be made alive”, —There are two explanations of
this clause, either of which is acceptable though each is attended with
difficulties.
1. That which adheres to the idea of physical resurrection and makes
the ''all” refer to everybody. (A. C. M. D. O. Am. Bio. Kli.
Bar. Bez. The. Chr. Theo. Brow.)
2. That which reads into the second clause the idea also of eternal
bliss and limits the "all” to believers. (H. G. B. FI. Ew. Es. Ru.
Ed. Le. Os. Me. Dod. Aug. Bil. Mai. Gro. Hof. Mul. Hein. Stan.
Beet. Lutt. Hols.)
In favor of the second view it may be said that: (a) As a rule " made
alive” is never referred to unbelievers, but always when used of the work
of Christ as imparting spiritual life; (b) If Paul had meant only bodily
resurrection he would have retained the word used in verse 21; (c) Paul
is speaking throughout of the resurrection only of believers; (d) " They
that are Christ’s” of the next verse favors this view; (e) The other view
would seem to imply that Christ is the first fruits of the wicked; (f) The
analogy between Adam and Christ includes more than physical death.
Hodge says there is a limit in each " all”, i. e. ( all who are in Adam
die and all who are in Christ shall be made alive. The order of the Greek
words, however, will hardly allow this, although this thought may have
been in Paul's mind. The great objection to this view is the change of
parallelism and the possibility of reading into it the doctrine of the final
restoration of all mankind, as indeed done by some. This, however, is
inconsistent with the last part of verse 25, and is opposed by such Scrip¬
tures as II Thess. 1.9; Acts 25.15.
The principle arguments in favor of the second view are:
1. It retains unimpaired the parallel between the two “alls”.
2. Paul is speaking of physical resurrection throughout the whole
chapter.
3. The "each” of the next verse seems to imply that the wicked are
included in the number.
The principal objection to this view is in the use of "in Christ ",
which it is declared cannot be said of the unbeliever’s resurrection.
But Klieforth has well said, "Inasmuch as it is universally recog¬
nized that Christ is the head of humanity, the reference may well be to an
organic union of the race in Christ as it is in Adam, and the "in” shows
that each process of development has its ground or source in its peculiar
head." The being in Christ then would refer not to the incorporation
into Christ’s mystical body of believers by faith, but to their being taken
in under Christ's headship of the race, as they were previously in under the
headship of Adam by descent.
437
I CORINTHIANS
It is, of course, Christ’s power that awakens both good and bad, and
it is, as Godet says, "the relation of both the good and the bad to Christ
that determines their return to life either to glory or to condemnation."
We are inclined to think the force of the argument is in favor of the
first view.
Ver. 23. " each in his oivn order”, —As forming part of it and
involved in it.
"order",—This means not so much priority, but rank, troop, divi¬
sion of an army. The believers are conceived of as rising together and of
course the same will be true of the unbelievers.
"Christ the first fruits’, —The first fruits are as the lump, a com¬
munity of nature being involved.
"they that are Christ’s”, —Not Christ’s followers in the days of His
flesh (Vul. Scho.), nor professing Christians, good and bad (M.), but
true believers. (H. G. Ed.)
"at his coming’’, —At His Parousia, His Second Coming.
This is another of the proof texts used by Dr. Brown against the pre-
millennarians as showing that no one can be saved after the coming of
Christ. He insists that as the foregoing words, “in Adam all die”, in¬
clude “the whole federal offspring of Adam”, so the words “they that are
Christ’s” must include the whole federal affspring of Christ, i. e., the total
number of the saved. To Dr. Brown at this point Kellog replies, “But
it so happens that the meaning which Dr. Brown insists that the phrase,
'they that are Christ’s ’ must have, is just the one meaning that it cannot
have. It is absolutely certain that the words, ’they that are Christ’s '—as
denoting those who shall rise from the dead at His coming—do not include
‘the whole federal offspring of Christ’. First, it is certain that, in the na¬
ture of the case, Enoch and Elijah must be excluded. In the second place, it
is no less certain that we must exclude all those many saints of the old dis¬
pensation of whom we read in Matt. 27.5 2,5 3, that they came out of their
graves after Christ’s resurrection and appeared to many. In the third
place, it is equally clear that we must exclude all those of 'Christ’s federal
offspring’ who shall be found alive at His coming, of whom Paul him¬
self says that they shall not sleep—but shall be changed. As they shall
never die, they cannot be raised. These three exceptions are enough to
settle the question that what Dr. Brown declares the words must mean, they
cannot mean. If, then, the phrase ’they that are Christ’s at His coming'.
does not denote all the saved, but only a certain portion of them, then it is
evident that if it be elsewhere taught, as we have abundant reason to
believe, that the subjection of all nations to Christ must follow His second
coming, then these words teach nothing which is inconsistent with this. ’
Ver. 24. “then”, —The first preposition “then” in verse 23 is
‘epeita’’, and the second “then” in this verse is the same word with the
preposition (epi) left off. They are adverbs of time and mark a sequence
of course, sometimes depending on temporal succession and sometimes on
the nature of the things enumerated. There is absolutely nothing in the
words to designate a shorter or longer period of time. If the idea of
immediate succession was found in either word it would more aptly inhere
in the first one where the preposition is added, and yet we know that more
438
I CORINTHIANS
than 2000 years have intervened between the two points of time mentioned.
If the first "then” looks down the ages for 2000 years it is possible for the
second one to do the same so far as the two words themselves are con¬
cerned.
Principal Edwards says, "eita" does not mean "at that time", but
"after that", as in Matt. 24.6,14; Mark 13.7; Luke 21.9.
The second "eita" is the same word as that used in Mark 4.28, " First
the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear”, and here of course
an intervening period of time must be figured in between each preposition.
Then, too, if Paul had wanted to say that the end came there and
then immediately after the resurrection of ‘‘they that ere Christ's” he could
easily have done so by using the word "tote".
Blackstone reminds us that in this same chapter (verses 5-7) "eita"
is used interchangeably with "epeita"; that it here signifies next in order,
but not necessarily immediately , and that when the Holy Spirit means im¬
mediately He uses tote, ££aptfjs, euOeos, or Mapa^Qrina.
Godet says with seeming propriety, "The ‘eita’ does not allow us to
identify the time of the end with that of the advent; it implies in the mind
of the Apostle a longer or shorter interval between the advent of Christ
and what he calls the ' end
Alford says, "It ought to be needless to remind the student of the
distinction between this Parousia and the final judgment; it is here pecul¬
iarly important to bear this in mind."
"the end”, —Not the end of the resurrection (M. B. Os. The. Oec.
Kil. Hey. Grimm), nor yet the end of the Gospel dispensation (Bii. Gro.
Whe.), but the end of the world, the end of all things absolutely. (A. H.
G. O. Ed.)
‘‘he shall deliver up the kingdom” ,—The royal power itself, the
dominion exercised, the reign of Christ (G. M. A.), and not the subjects
of His kingly rule nor the citizens of the kingdom as raised from the dead
(Bez. Hey.).
" shall have abolished” ,—There is a very fine distinction in the use
of the subjunctive aorist here. Above we had the future, " shall deliver”
(equivalent to the certain present), but here the tense shows that he is
looking backward and referring to what is to take place before the end.
The meaning is "after having abolished", and it would seem to prove an
epoch of judgment before the end.
"he”, —Not God (B. Bez. Gro. Hen. Hey.), but Christ (A. M. G.
H. ).
"all rule, and all authority and power”, —The powers intended are
hostile powers no doubt, and not earthly, political powers legitimate and
even ordained of God, as Calvin thinks, nor all rule, good and evil, even
that of the Son of God, as Olshausen would have us believe.
Godet makes them invisible hostile powers, while others make them
invisible hostile powers and earthly powers. (H. M. Us. Ca. Lut. Nea.
Bil. Hey. Chr. Kil.) However the primary reference here is to spiritual
powers as is evident from the words used. The words signify different
orders of angels, the highest, a lower and a still lower in the order of the
439
I CORINTHIANS
words. In Eph. 6.12 the first two words are used of the " spiritual hosts
of wickedness ’.
Alford maintains that all powers are meant, invisible hostile powers
and earthly powers good and bad, but the view of Hodge and others as
just expressed is perhaps the better, especially in view of verse 25, although
what Alford says may be thought of as being true. All legitimate author¬
ities are to come under His kingdom; kings shall submit to Him and the
kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of Christ.
Ver. 25. The subject throughout the verse is not God (B. Es. Bil-
Gro. Hof. Bez.), but Christ .(A. D. H. Os. Ru. Ew. Ed. Kil. Nea. Mai.
Brow.).
"must ”,—A necessity in accordance with divine counsel and decree
as well as the eternal fitness of things. It is as if he had said that Psalm
110 must be fulfilled. Paul appropriates, not quotes, this Psalm.
Godet remarks, "The essential object of Christ s reign is the carrying
out of this judgment on the opposing powers which still remain after the
advent”, while Edwards says, "The reign of Christ is not a millennium
of peace, but a perpetual conflict ending in final triumph.”
Ver. 26. This is accomplished by and through the resurrection, by
taking his victims from him and seeing that he gets no more, because all
dying will be over.
Impartial searchers after truth will appreciate a quotation like the
following from Principal Edwards. He says, "Death has not, it appears
from this, been destroyed at the second coming and at the resurrection of
those who are Christ's. The Apostle seems, it must be acknowledged, to
teach that there will be two resurrections, the former of believers only, the
latter of all others when at last death itself will die. I may add that my
interpretation of the Apostle’s words is not the result of having adopted any
theory on the general question. I know next to nothing of Millennial
literature, but after reading Bishop Waldegrave's ‘New Testament Millen-
narianism', and Dr. David Brown’s 'Second Advent', / am not convinced
that the Apostle does not teach the doctrine of two resurreettons. Neither
of these writers so far as I have observed touches upon the argument that
death is not destroyed at the advent.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the king¬
dom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. 51 Behold. I tell
you a mystery: "We all shall not sleep,
but we shall all be changed, 52 in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised in¬
corruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on in¬
corruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. 54 But when ’this cor¬
ruptible shall have put on incorruption,
'Or, We shall not all &C.
2 Many ancient authorities omit this corrupti¬
ble shall have put on incorruption, and .
and this mortal shall have put on im¬
mortality, then shall come to pass the
saying that is written, ’Death is swal¬
lowed up ‘in victory. 55 a O death,
where is thy victory? O death, where
is thy sting? 56 The sting of death
is sin; and the power of sin is the
law: 57 but thanks be to God. who
giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. 58 Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, al¬
ways abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labor is not Vain in the Lord.
3 Is. 25.8
■*Or, victoriously
°Hos. 13.14
e Or, void
440
I CORINTHIANS
Vers. 50-58. SOME BELIEVERS NEVER TO TASTE DEATH.
Ver. 50. 11 this I say", —This refers to what follows and not to
what goes before. He is impressing upon them something that might be
overlooked.
"flesh and blood", —Our present physical organism; human nature in
its present, material, mortal, corruptible state. It is not to be taken in an
ethical sense, as "flesh" in Romans 8.12,15, because "flesh and blood"
never have this meaning.
Some of the Jews believed in a flesh and blood resurrection, and
others in a spiritualistic, ethereal one, and some (O. Us. Bil.) think Paul
meant to combat the first and to make concessions to the latter. But this
is purely an importation into the Apostle's thought. He is simply con¬
firming what he had already said, by affirming that not only is the change
already mentioned possible, but it is necessary because the inheriting of
the kingdom of God by flesh and blood is impossible by the very nature
of the thing.
"neither doth corruption", etc., —The same idea expressed in abstract
terms. They are mutually exclusive and antagonistic.
Godet would have us refer "flesh and blood" to Christians alive at the
coming of Christ and "corruption" to Christians dead and already in a
state of dissolution, each of whom must be transformed, one by change
and the other by resurrection. This is perhaps carrying the application a
bit too far (although it is true), as corruption is not to be thought of so
much as distinct from flesh and blood, as the dead are distinguished from
the living, but it exhibits to us a prominent! characteristic of our present
state, flesh and blood being corruptible.
"kingdom of God", —Olshausen remarks, "We are here to under¬
stand the kingdom of God on earth, which the Scriptures inform us will
be set up immediately upon the coming of our Lord."
Hodge of course, in keeping with his general view, refers it to the
kingdom of Christ after the general and final resurrection.
"This verse is quoted", says Blackstone, "to support the assertion
that the kingdom of God is only spiritual and that there is nothing literal
or material in it. But Paul says nothing of the kind and his whole argu¬
ment is entirely to the contrary. He asserts that our bodies which are
sown in corruption, dishonor and weakness will be raised in incorruption,
glory and power, or if living, will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.
In these glorified bodies we shall ' inherit the kingdom prepared for us from
the foundation of the world '. Christ, the rightful heir of all things, will
be there and we shall be there to reign with Him."
Ver. 5 1. "mystery", —A thing unknown except through revelation.
All are agreed as to what Paul means by the following clause, namely,
that at the coming of Christ some would be alive and that these without
dying would be changed. Yet each class of expositors accuses the other
of making Paul say something other than that. Many renderings have
been given of the clause in question.
1. The text of the Revised Version, "We all shall not sleep but we
shall all be changed ." (M. Kli. Win.)
441
I CORINTHIANS
2. We shall all die but we shall not all be changed. But this is con¬
tradicted by the next verse.
3. All of us shall rise but all of us shall not be changed. There is<
insufficient manuscript authority for this. Both these two last-
views are inconsistent with the fact that the entire discussion refers*
to believers only.
4. Some transfer the word “not" and read, “Not all of us shall sleep*
but all of us shall be changed”. (FI. Os. Hey. Chr. Hen. Reic..
and most all older commentators.) But this makes the “change"
refer to all—both the living and the dead, the former being trans¬
formed alive and the latter resurrected. The strongest objection
to this is not that the transposition of “nor” is not grammatically
allowable, because its position is not so rigorously observed, andi
the Septuagint seems to have instances of the same thing. The 1
strongest objections are, however: (a) the stricter meaning of
the word “change", and (b) the fact that verse 52 says apparently'
that only the living are changed while the dead are to arise.
5. Some place the emphasis on the word “all" and render “All of us
shall not sleep but we all shall be changed”. (A. H. Ed. Stan.)
But the same objections registered against the view just consid¬
ered are pertinent in this case.
Godet and Alford say that the reading of our text teaches that not
one Christian shall die before the Parousia, which, of course, they declare
is an absurdity. Meyer admits this absurdity only if the subject is made
to be all Christians living when Paul was speaking, but he affirms that the
subject in Paul’s mind was all Christians (himself included, as he doubt¬
less hoped) who were to be alive at the Parousia. These are to be changed,
he says, and only these, while the dead are to be raised according to verse 52.
Meyer contends that Paul transfers himself in thought to the moment
of the Parousia, i. e., “We all who are alive at the Parousia shall not die
but we all who are alive at that time shall be changed.” But how easy
for Paul to have said, “Not one of us who are alive at the Parousia shall
die, but we all who are then alive shall be changed.”
The rendering of our text seems a bit forced to avoid applying the
word “changed" to the dead. This word “changed" in verse 5 2 does
apparently refer to the living, and inasmuch as it is the same word in both
cases, it does present something of a difficulty when made to cover in verse
51 both the dead and the living. There is, however, not much choice
between the two.
6. There is, however, still another translation which relieves the
difficulty altogether, namely, “We shall not all sleep, but we all
(who do not sleep—who are alive at the Parousia) shall be
changed.”
This thought could easily have been in the Apostle’s mind, and yet
have been expressed just as he has expressed himself so far as the wording
of the sentence is concerned, and this we prefer because it makes Paul say
what all agree he had in his mind, and at the same time confines the word
“changed" to those living at the time of the Parousia.
Ver. 5 2.
point of time.
“moment", —Literally, an “atom”.
a little indivisible
442
I CORINTHIANS
"at the last trump", —The reference is to the divine signal by which
the "moment" will be proclaimed, manifesting the divine will to the beings
of the invisible world. It does not therefore mean the last among any
particular number (D. The.), nor the last of the seven trumpets which
the Jews thought would sound the seven successive stages of the resurrec¬
tion. This conception was foreign to Paul, seeing that he represents the
resurrection as instantaneous. (H. A. M. G. Ed.)
This trump no doubt corresponds to the last trump mentioned in
Revelation, but this does not mean that Paul had this in mind, not neces¬
sarily so at least, as Olshausen thinks.
Brown thinks the sound will be audible. But what it is and how
it is to sound is not to be searched out, but is to be left with God.
The connection gives us no right to assume a non-literal, imaginative
representation. Most expositors, however, agree with Godet that the
reference is not to a literal trumpet, but that the expression is a figurative
one, the symbol for expressing the idea of a gathering multitude (H.), a
stupenduous spiritual influence arousing mankind for some mighty pur¬
pose (O.), an all-agitating command or nod of God. (Us. Nea. Bil. Hof.
Theo.)
"last trump", —While Hodge says this is the last trumpet that is
ever to sound and refers to the last day of the world's economy, others,
however, rightly say that the idea of "last" is not to be pressed too hard
or too far; it is the last in a wide and popular sense, and not necessarily
the last that is ever to sound. Olshausen says it is the last of the seven
trumpets in Revelation 8, and cannot therefore mean the trumpet sounding
in the last day, but the last sounding trumpet, i. e., the last of the trumpets
but not necessarily the trumpet of the last day. It is without doubt the
trump of God mentioned in I Thess. 4.16, and is the last trumpet of this
age or dispensation.
"the dead", —The Christians who have already died up to that time.
He is speaking of Christians throughout.
"we shall be changed", —This is consistent with his hope that he
might be alive when his Lord returned. (M. A. O. G. Kli.)
It is possible of course to think of him speaking, as Hodge says, of
believers as a whole and meaning, "Those of us who are dead will arise
and those of us who are alive will be changed", although in view of other
Scriptures it is better to take it the other way.
"we shall be changed", —This refers without doubt to the living
Christians. Godet well says, "There is no difficulty in taking it in a
more restricted sense here than in verse 51, because here it is contrasted with
rising and not with being dead."
Ver. 53. This is the idea of verse 50 reproduced in positive form,
showing in the necessity here mentioned, the reason why we must be
changed.
It is safer, as Klieforth says, to refer "corruptible" and "mortal" both
to the living, rather than with Bengle and Godet to refer the first to the
resurrected bodies and the second to those living.
"this ",—It is better to think of him, as Brown says, referring to the
mortality of the saints in general, as in II Cor. 5.1, "our earthly house".
443
I CORINTHIANS
rather than to think of Paul pointing to his own body (A. M. Theo.)
and making, as Edwards says, a personal application of the doctrine to
himself.
“put or?”,—This points to the continuance of personal identity;
the perishable, mortal body not to be destroyed, but to be clothed upon,
changed to an incorruptible condition of existence. (O. M. A. G. H.)
Ver. 54. Paul here quotes from Isa. 25.8 and intentionally changes
the last word from “forever” to “in victory”, as the Septuagint frequently
does.
“in victory”, —So as to result in victory. Death is to be completely
conquered, its prey rescued from it and none thereafter to be given to it
through dying.
It ought to be borne in mind that Paul is still speaking of believers.
Edwards, referring to II Cor. 5.4, says the reference here is only to the
living; but we have seen no other commentator take any notice of such a
distinction, and the most natural reference, it would seem, is to both the
resurrection and the transformation, as Hodge maintains.
Ver. 55. Hodge says, "The Apostle places himself and his readers
in the presence of the Saviour and the risen dead and the transformed living
arrayed in immortality, and in view of that majestic scene he breaks out in
these words of triumph.
Paul quotes from the Septuagint of Hosea 13.14 with free alteration.
“victory ”,—Death had conquered us, but Christ conquers death and
takes his victory away from him.
“sting ”,—Not of a goad driving us to death (FI. Bil. Hein.), but
of a venomous serpent. (H. A. M. G. Ed. Kil.)
Ver. 56. “The sting of sin is death”, —This is so because in a sub¬
jective way it is sin that arms death with all its terrors, but more especially
in an objective way it is sin that imparts to death its fatal power. Death
is by sin. (Rom. 5.12.)
“The power of sin is the law ”,—
1. Because without law there would be no sin. (Rom. 4.15.)
2. Because if there be no law there can be no condemnation. (Rom.
5.13.)
Klieforth prefers the subjective meaning, namely, that the law awak
ens sin in man, excites, exasperates and thus strengthens it, in the sense of
Rom. 7.7. But the subjective aspect in both clauses of the verse seems
foreign to the connection.
This is a discussion of the Resurrection, and as Godet says, it would
seem that we have here nothing to do with the trouble experienced by the
dying man or the peace enjoyed by the believer.
“the law”, —Not the Mosaic law, which would make the declaration
amount to nothing, but the law of God in its widest sense.
Ver. 5 7. “giveth”, —The present tense, representing this future
victory as sure and certain.
“the victory”, —The victory over death.
“through our Lord Jesus Christ”, —Because:
444
II CORINTHIANS
1. He has satisfied the demands of the law and it has no power to
condemn those who are clothed in His righteousness. (Rom. 8.1.)
2. He new creates the soul after the image of God and repairs all
the evils which death had inflicted.
Ver. 58. “Wherefore”, —Seeing that this victory is sure. (A. O.
M. G. Kil. Brow.)
“steadfast, unmovable”, —In reference to the doubt which some
attempt to raise among you on this matter. (A. M. G. Ed.)
“the work of the Lord”, —The Christian life with its duties, espec¬
ially that of bringing others to the knowledge of the Lord. (M. A. Ed.
Kil.)
“knowing”, —Being convinced by what has been said.
“not in vain”, —This it would be if there were no resurrection. In
the resurrection you will get your reward. This is the thought rather
than that their work will not be in vain in its results, i. e., in converting
many, etc.
“in the Lord”, —This does not belong to “your labor”, nor yet al¬
together to “in vain” (M.), but the rather to the whole sentence, your
labor, etc.
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
CORINTHIANS
(A. D. 60)
CHAPTER FOUR
14 knowing that he that raised up
the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also
with Jesus, and shall present us with
you.
Ver. 14. The Joyful Presentation of Believers Before the
Throne of Christ.
“knowing” ,—This gives the ground of the speaking (M. A.) and
not the matter or content of it.
“shall raise up us also with Jesus”, —Because of the preposition
“with”, this is taken by some as a figurative resurrection, viz., of the over¬
coming of the constant perils of death (verses 10-12), which it is held is a
resurrection “with” Jesus, insofar as through it there arises a fellowship
of destiny with the risen Christ. (Ru. Nea. Schu.)
These authors claim that the Apostle could not thus speak of his
physical resurrection because he expected to be alive at the coming of the
Lord. But this objection is best refuted by this very passage; he speaks
here exactly in the same sense that he did in I Thess. 4.15.
Then, too, it is possible to conceive under the general idea of being
“raised up” the more special one of a simple change, the raising up here
445
II CORINTHIANS
having respect rather to the contrast of the future glory with the present
suffering, and not therefore necessarily implying one or the other side of
the alternative of being quick or dead at the Lord’s coming, but embracing
all, quick and dead, in one blessed resurrection state.
The figurative interpretation is not demanded by the words “with
Jesus“, which, by the way, is no doubt the correct reading. This read¬
ing is supported by overwhelming authority, and the “by” of the Author¬
ized Version was introduced no doubt because of the supposed impropriety
of “with” in reference to a future resurrection, Christ having already been
raised. It is true that the resurrection of the dead takes place “by" (dia)
Jesus, but as Meyer says, "Christians may be conceived and designated as
one day becoming raised ‘with’ Jesus, since they are members of Christ and
Christ is the first fruits of those who rise from the dead. The believer,
in virtue of his connection with the Lord, knows himself already in his
temporal life as risen with Christ, and what he thus knows in faith emerges
at the last day into objective completion and outward reality."
The possibility of dying was always before Paul’s mind, and that too
before the Lord came. (I Cor. 15.31; II Cor. 1.8; 5.18; Phil. 1.20; Acts
20.25,38.)
“present us with you ",—viz.,
"Before the judgment seat of Christ as perfected men of God." (O.)
"Before the judgment seat of Christ for the reception of the great
prize, i. e., as companions of Christ in His kingdom." (Kli.)
"Before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the eternal glory." (M.)
The idea of judgment is of course foreign to the passage except in
the sense of reward as noted by the authorities just quoted, and certainly
there is here no allusion whatsoever to the awful scenes of the last judg¬
ment. The reference is rather to the joyful, blessed presentation referred
to so often elsewhere by the Apostle. (Chap. 1 1.2; Eph. 5.27; Col. 1.22;
Jude 24.)
CHAPTER FIVE
1 For we know that if the earthly
house of our 'tabernacle be dissolved, we
have a building from God, a house not
made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
2 For verily in this we groan, longing
to be clothed upon with our habitation
which is from heaven: 3 if so be that
being clothed we shall not be found
naked. 4 For indeed we that are in
this ‘tabernacle do groan, 2 being bur¬
dened: not for that we would be un¬
clothed, but that we would be clothed
upon, that what is mortal may be swal¬
lowed up of life. 5 Now he that
wrought us for this very thing is God,
who gave unto us the earnest of the
J Or, bodily frame Comp. Wisd. 9, 15.
2 Or, being burdened, in that we would not
be unclothed, but would be clothed upon
Spirit. 6 Being therefore always of
good courage, and knowing that, whilst
we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord 7 (for we walk
by faith, not by ‘sight) ; 8 we are of
good courage, I say, and are willing
rather to be absent from the body, and
to be at home with the Lord. 9 Where¬
fore also we ‘make it our aim, whether
at home or absent, to be well-pleasing
unto him. 10 For we must all be made
manifest before the judgment-seat of
Christ: that each one may receive the
things done “in the body, according to
what he hath done, whether it be good
or bad.
®Gr. appearance
4 Gr. are ambitious. See Rom. 15.20 mar?.
B Gr. through
Vers. 1-10. Why Death Has No Terror for the Believer.
Ver. 1. This verse gives the reason for Chap. 4.17. ‘Paul, whom
446
II CORINTHIANS
we are inclined to believe felt strongly the possibility of his living to the
time of the Parousia, is here supposing the possibility of his death before
that time.
“we know”, —This is not the general "it is known", but Paul is
here speaking (with the inclusion of Timothy) of himself, as in the whole
context.
‘‘earthly house of our tabernacle” ,—His then present physical body.
“tabernacle”, —This is a genitive of apposition; the tabernacle and
the house are one and the same. The literal of “tabernacle” is "tent", the
well-known expression among the Greeks for the earthly habitation or
covering for the soul.
“if”, —This is hypothetical, involving the possibility that he might
not die. This is disputed by some, but both the context and the meaning
of the particle favors this view.
“dissolved”, —Undergo the process of dissolution.
“we have” ,—Present tense as referring to the time of the dissolution.
“a building from God”, —A building originating with God and fur¬
nished by Him; not as contrasted with our earthly body, for that too is
from God, but a building prepared in a special manner for us by God.
“a house not made with hands” ,—This is not to be contrasted with
our earthly body, for that too is not made with hands; but with the other
houses and buildings which are hand-made.
What is this house not made with hands?
1. Heaven itself. (H. Ca. Ros. Wol. Hof.)
Hodge argues for this view as follows:
(a) Heaven is so often called in Scripture a habitation, a house
of many mansions, a city in which are many houses.
(b) The appropriateness of the metaphor.
(c) The agreement of the description here given with other de¬
scriptions of heaven. (Heb. 9.11; 11.10.)
(d) A body after death or in the resurrection could not be spoken
of as present in the heavens, or as to be received from heaven,
whereas Christ expressly authorizes such language respecting
the mansions He is preparing.
(e) The building here spoken of is evidently to be entered upon
at death. When Paul dies this was to save him from being
found naked and this could not be at the final resurrection.
(f) Believers are said to pass immediately into glory at death.
(Matt. 22.32; Phil. 1.22; Heb. 12.23; Luke 16.22.)
But on the other hand it is to be said:
(a) This view destroys the parallelism. If the earthly house is
a body the heavenly house must be a body also.
(b) It does not say that the house was to be heaven, but that it
was then in heaven.
(c) The change of the preposition from “in” of verse l to “out
of” or “from” in verse 2 is against the view of Hodge. If
447
II CORINTHIANS
Paul meant the same thing this is certainly a very loose use of
prepositions.
(d) The special form of the verb “clothed upon”, “to put on
over", in contrast with the same verb without the preposition
is not at all favorable to this view.
(e) The simple idea of heaven, if found in verse 1, does not con¬
sist with the idea of a house “out of” or “from” heaven in
verse 2.
2. The resurrection body received at the Parousia. (M. A. Kli.
Nea. Brow.)
This is the opinion of almost all recent expositors, with the ex¬
ception of Hodge, who alone adopts the view that the house men¬
tioned is heaven, and he argues for it very ably, as we have seen,
and yet not with success, for a body which is said to be now in
heaven and afterwards to come from heaven can hardly be identi¬
fied with heaven itself. In spite of the apparent difficulty of
Paul’s representation that he receives the investiture at death, the
arguments favor strongly the second view, namely that Paul has
in view here the body to be received at the time of the resurrection.
Meyer explains very appropriately the use of the present tense, “have”.
by saying that he who dies has from that moment a glorified body, not yet
indeed as a real possession, but as an ideal possession (he has it “in the
heavens ”) to be realized at the Parousia.
Olshausen thinks the reference is solely to the transformation of the
living. But in the case of transformation, there is no such thing as disso
lution, which Paul mentions here as taking place before the house from
heaven belongs to him.
Some say the reference is to an immediate pneumatic bodily organ
in heaven, which is to clothe the soul only until the time for the resurrection
body. (Au. FI. Us. Nea.) But the word “eternal” is against this. Web¬
ster and Wilkinson argue for a permanent spiritual corporeity capable of
coexisting with the body of the resurrection. But of all this, Scripture
knows absolutely nothing.
The reason why Paul did not refer to the intermediate state between
death and the Parousia or the resurrection is perhaps because he had as yet
received no revelation on the point whether he and his fellow Christians of
that age would live until the Parousia, and so whether there should be any
such state to those of whom he was speaking. That it was in Paul’s mind
is perhaps evident from the distinction between the prepositions “in” and
“from” in verses 1 and 2 respectively. It is not necessary therefore to say
with De Wette that he over-leaped it, or with Osiander that he omitted its
mention because of what he believed would be its shortness, viz., the time
between his death (in case he died) and the resurrection.
“in the heavens”, — This properly modifies the verb “have” , although
the same sense will be preserved if it is taken as an adverbial phrase limiting
building.
Ver. 2. The certainty of verse 1 confirmed by the longing, etc.
“in this” ,—i. e., in this body, Paul’s then present body.
“longing”, — The reason for the groaning.
448
II CORINTHIANS
“clothed upon”, — The figure is here changed to a garment—to have
superimposed upon, to put on over.
“with our habitation which is from heaven*, — The reference is here
the same as in verse 1, where this habitation was said to be in heaven, but
now considered as brought at the resurrection time with the Lord from
(out of) heaven at His coming.
The expression, “clothed upon’ 1 , seems to indicate that he is thinking
of the same thing he said in I Cor. 15.51 and the following, namely, his
being transformed alive. The additional preposition, "epi", seems to
lend strength to this supposition. (M. O. A. W-W. Kli.)
Olshausen says, "Paul regards it as an especial happiness not to taste
death at all, not to be obliged to put off this body, but to be glorified living,
drawing the heavenly body over this present mortal body like a garment,
but of course in such a manner that the mortal body is absorbed in the
nature of the spiritual body." The authorities quoted are very strong
indeed in their advocacy of this view, and we see no good reason for not
accepting it.
Ver. 3. This verse is a substantiation and explanation of the pre¬
ceding one.
“if so be that” , —This particle carries in it, in Classic Greek as well
as here, the idea of full certainty, and this thought is here confirmed by
the context. However, since to the English mind there is always a shade
of doubt attached to the word “if”, we prefer to read "seeing that".
Paul is no doubt speaking with the deniers of the resurrection in
mind. The passage is somewhat difficult, but we can see no other reason¬
able interpretation than that the Apostle says, in confirmation of what had
preceded, that when Christ comes we shall be found clothed (having the
resurrection body) and consequently shall not be found naked (in a dis¬
embodied state), i. e., we will not be disembodied spirits in that day.
This, of course, would be true of Paul whether he were dead or alive at
the Parousia.
“naked” ,— This is the very word used by the Greeks to express the
disembodied spirit or condition. Anselm makes “naked” refer to naked
of Christ; Hunsius to being without faith; Olshausen to naked of the
robe of righteousness. But if by “naked” Paul had meant any other kind
of nakedness than that which the similitude obviously implies, he most
certainly would have indicated it.
The most current exposition on the part of others is that which refers
the “being clothed” to being still clothed in the earthly body when the
Parousia takes place, and the word “naked” to being not dead (not dis¬
embodied). Alive when the Lord comes he would of course then be
changed. The rendering is:
1. If so be we shall be found clothed (in the earthly body) and not
naked (not in the disembodied state of the dead), or as Grotius
puts it,
2. If so be we shall be found among the changed and not among
the naked (the disembodied). (B. Em. Ca. Es. Gro. Con. Ter.
Wol. Mos. Schr.), or as Bilroth renders it.
449
II CORINTHIANS
3. If we, having been once clothed (with the earthly body) shall not
be found naked (without the earthly body).
There are three objections to these views, or rather to these render¬
ings, because the views really come to the same thing in the end:
(a) The clause would have to begin with a different particle, for
which there is considerable but still insufficient authority.
(b) It fails to translate the particle “kai", which by the way is
also overlooked by the Revised Version.
(c) “ clothed ” should according to this view be in the perfect tense,
instead of in the past.
De Wette renders, “Seeing that when we are also clothed (in the heav¬
enly dwelling, which is also a body) we shall not be found naked." But
this makes “clothed” and “naked” to coexist, whereas they are by the text
made to be the very opposite one of the other.
There is another reading, “unclothed” , not quite so well sub¬
stantiated, by which the rendering would be, “If we, provided that we
shall be unclothed (shall have died before the Parousia) shall be found not
naked."
Klieforth prefers the reading “unclothed" and translates, “Although
we, even if an unclothing has ensued (if we have died before the Parousia),
will not be found naked." The particle however, never means “although".
Yet the sense of this rendering is good. But the reading “unclothed" is
not sufficiently substantiated.
The literal rendering is, “If so be that being clothed, not naked we
shall be found", and the rendering given by the discussion at the start
is the only one that suits both the text and the context.
Ver. 4. This verse expresses again the wish of verse 2 and confirms
and explains it.
“this tabernacle”, —As before, Paul’s then present body.
“being burdened”, —The reason for the groaning and for the being
burdened is seen in what follows. The being burdened is not therefore
because of troubles, etc. (Em. Pis. Fri. Schu.)
“unclothed” , —That is, to suffer the process of physical death.
“not for that we would ", —This can be a little better expressed for
the English mind by, “because we do not wish", or “because that we do not
wish". He is expressing the natural disinclination as to death; not that
he feared to die, but perhaps regarding the Parousia as near, he would
naturally prefer to be transformed.
“that what is mortal ", —By speaking of what is mortal as existing
in that day when Christ comes, he shows he is referring to the change or
transformation of the living, for if he were referring to himself as being
dead at that time there would have been no mortal part left, as he himself
at that time under those conditions would be a disembodied spirit.
“ life ",—The new, immortal power of life which is imparted to us
in the moment of the change at the Parousia when we are clothed upon.
Ver. 5. This verse expresses the ground of his wish.
“wrought as for” ,—Made us ready for, and this He did through
redemption, justification and sanctification.
450
II CORINTHIANS
Others refer this to the creation, (The. Bez. Chr. Theo. Schn.)
But this has no place here, not even as the beginning of the preparation
indicated.
" this very thing”, —This does not have its reference in the groaning
of the previous verse (B. Hof.), but to what he has just said about being
"clothed upon” in order that that which is mortal may be swallowed up
of life.
" the earnest of the Spirit” ,—i. e., the Holy Spirit as an earnest.
Meyer says, "The Holy Spirit given him as an earnest of the fact
that he shall not fail to be clothed upon with the body waiting for him
at the Parousia, which Paul was convinced he would live to see."
Alford, however, is nearer the truth when he says, "Paul in this
verse seems to be treating no longer exclusively of his own wish to be trans¬
formed alive, but is showing that the end itself (which it seems he in
common with others then living wished accomplished by transformation
without death) is, under whatever form brought about, that for which all
the preparation by grace of Christians is carried on and to which the earnest
of the Spirit points forward."
Ver. 6. This verse shows the effect of verse 5 on Paul's mind.
"always of good courage”, —No matter what the troubles, or as
Alford prefers, "whether hoping to be clothed upon by transformation, or
shrinking from being unclothed by physical dissolution."
Paul in verses 6 to 8 is saying that whether his particular wish as to
the method of receiving the new body be realized or not, he is prepared
to accept the alternative of being denuded of the body, seeing that it will
bring with it a translation into the presence of the Lord.
"and knowing”, —This is the ground for the " willing” of verse 8.
It is an additional thought and correlative with ”being of good courage ”,
and not a ground for the latter (Ca.), nor an exception to it (O. Es. FI.
Em. Ros.) as if it were to be taken in the sense of "although".
"at home in the body”, —That is, residing here in our physical body.
”absent from the Lord”, —Literally, away from home from the
Lord, sojourning in a foreign country. (For the same thought see Phil.
1.3; I Thess. 4.17; Heb. 11.13.)
Ver. 7. We do not believe this verse ought to be taken as a paren¬
thesis. Paul started to write, "Being therefore always of good courage
and knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from
the Lord, we are willing rather," etc., as in verse 8. But he was carried
away from this by the intervening thought of verse 7, and accordingly took
up the thought again in verse 8 with a change of construction. (A. M.
Kil.) Others want to make a parenthesis out of both verse 7 and verse 8;
but this most certainly interferes with the true trend of the thought.
” sight”, —This cannot refer to a subjective process. It means that
we are not surrounded by the actual appearance of heaven itself; we are
not seeing the objective realities. It is the Lord in His glory concerning
whom we now walk by faith, but one day will walk with His actual glory
shining around and before us.
451
II CORINTHIANS
Ver. 8. If verse 7 be taken as a parenthesis (and there is no strong
objection to this construction), the particle translated “I say " must be so
translated. It is a picking up again of the thought interrupted by the
parenthesis.
We, however, prefer, in keeping with our thought that no parenthesis
ought to be allowed, to read the particle "But” , the adversative, and to
start the sentence thus, “But we are", i. e., even though we do now have
to walk by faith.
"at home with the Lord”,— Though having expressed a preference
to live until the Parousia, he says now, since being in his present body
means absence from the Lord, he is willing, i. e., prefers to suffer even
physical dissolution inasmuch as he knows this will bring him into the
presence of the Lord. The reference is not then in this place to the putting
on of the immortal body at the Parousia.
Ver. 9. "Wherefore” ,— i. e., this being so, namely, our confidence
being such, in event whether of death or of life until the coming of the
Lord.
"whether at home or absent”. — This phrase must be connected with
"to be well-pleasing unto him”. (B. Ca. Es. Em. FI. Hof. Gro. Bez. Chr.)
By many it is taken with "make it our aim”. (C. D. Os. Ew. Ru. Bil.)
But how can we, when we are absent from our body and present with the
Lord, make it our aim then to please Him? This connection brings com¬
mentators into all sorts of difficulty. The thought of the passage may
be expressed as follows: "Wherefore also we make it our aim now while
we are in the body to be well-pleasing unto Him at His coming whether
we are at that time in the body or out of it."
Ver. 10. This verse gives the reason and the motive for the aim of
verse 9.
"all ”,— All Christians, myself among the number, with special
reference to those to whom they have preached.
Alford well says, "No more definite inference must be drawn from
this verse as to the place which the saints of God shall hold in the judg¬
ment than it warrants, viz., that they as well as others shall be manifested
and judged by Him. When or in company with whom is not here even
so much as hinted."
"be made manifest” , —Made to appear in our true light (A. M. B
Bez.), and not merely to stand before. (Gro.) It is the same word used
concerning the manifestation of Christ.
"before the judgment seat of Christ”. — This does not refer to a mere
judicial inquiry with respect to each man immediately after death (FI.),
for of this the Scriptures know nothing.
"the things done in the body” ,—Literally, "the things through the
body", i. e., the body as the medium or organ of action, the things being
done of course while in the body.
"in the body”, —This was taken by some earlier writers (Ter. The.
Chr. Oec.) and later by Osiander as indicating the resurrection body in
which each receives back according to that which he did while in the
physical body. But this agrees neither with the context, nor with the
452
EPHESIANS
sense in which the body is used throughout the passage, nor with the actual
words as used in this place.
“receive", —This really means to carry away. Moral actions are
here conceived as something deposited, laid up, and which at the judgment
are received back, carried away in equivalent reward and retribution.
"whether it be good or bad", —That is, the things he hath done.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
EPHESIANS
(A. D. 64)
CHAPTER ONE
10 unto a dispensation of the fulness
of the ’times, to sum up all things in
Christ, the things 2 in the heavens, and
the things upon the earth:
’Gr. seasons
-Gr. upon
Ver. 10. The Present Age the Dispensation of the Fullness
of the Times.
“unto ",— i. e., with a design; with a view to. It belongs to the pre¬
ceding " purposed in him". (M. E. R. A. H. Ea. Bra.)
“dispensation of the fulness of the times", —The primary meaning
of the word “dispensation" is house management, stewardship; but trans¬
ferred to the spiritual sphere it means arrangement, economy, the ordering
of events. Practically all are agreed that the reference is to the first coming
of Christ and that the dispensation referred to is the Gospel dispensation
inaugurated by that coming; though Scofield quite arbitrarily makes it
"the seventh and last of the ordered ages which condition human life on
earth", and says it is "identical with the kingdom covenanted to David,
and gathers into itself under Christ all past 'times’."
“fulness of the times", —The word “fulness" may mean (1) that
which fills; or (2) that which is filled, and hence the state of fullness; or
(3) the act of filling. The last sense is out of the question; a fair inter¬
pretation could be gotten out of the first meaning, but all agree that the
second meaning is the best one for the context in this place.
Eadie says, "The pleroma (fulness) is regarded as a vast receptacle
into which centuries and millenniums have been flowing, but now it was
filled." In Gal. 4.4 where the word is “time", a fixed point of time is the
thought in Paul's mind, that point of time being the birth of Christ, the
time before Christ being conceived of as a unit; but in our passage, where
the word is “times", the expression refers to a series of periods, to sections
or seasons of time strung out through one complete whole which consti¬
tutes the fullness.
Alford complains that most expositors go astray in making the expres¬
sion refer to a point of time rather than to a series of seasons. As, for
453
EPHESIANS
instance, Vincent says, "It is the moment when the successive ages of the
Gospel dispensation are completed”, and Ellicott says, "The reference is to
that moment which completes the ordained seasons of the Gospel dispen¬
sation.” Most expositors have had difficulty in making themselves clear
on this point.
Riddle, on the other hand, says, "The main question is whether the
phrase, ‘the fulness of the times’, as a whole, refers to the entire Gospel
dispensation or to the period of the first advent alone. As the explana¬
tory clause which follows points to what is still future, we accept the wider
reference.” With Riddle most authorities are agreed. (A. H. S. Mo. Ca.
Ru. Ea. Mat. Bra.)
But there is still a question as to what periods of time the expression is
meant to designate. We believe the majority of commentators have
missed the exact meaning here. The “times’ are pre-Messianic. There is
no difference whatever between this statement and that in Gal. 4.4 except
that this latter text conceives of the pre-Messianic ages as a unit, while our
passage conceives of them as a series of periods. But as much as the
word " dispensation” carries with it in itself the idea, not of a point but of a
period of time, we must conceive of the time after Christ's first advent as
included also in the " fulness” to which reference is made. This is sub¬
stantially the view of Meyer, save that he closes the " fulness” with the last
of the pre-Messianic periods.
All times, past, present, and future, come to their fullness at the be¬
ginning, in the course of, and at the completion of the dispensation of the
Gospel.
CHAPTER TWO
7 that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace
in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
Ver. 7. Post-Parousia Blessedness for the Believer.
“ages to come”, —There are two views as to what is the time meant:
1. The ages which are successively arriving until Christ’s Second
Coming. (A. E. R. H. Ea. Bra. Wol.) These authorities con¬
ceive of Paul as speaking of the period between the resurrection of
Christ and His Second Coming as the “ages to come” according to
the technical, Jewish way of speaking and thinking.
2. The time after the Parousia. (M. O. Mo. Gro. Har.) Certainly
the ordinary reader would take it in this sense, and Olshauscn
says that New Testament usage in the singular, its derivative
meaning and the context favor this interpretation.
The arguments against this view by Alford are not at all formidable:
(a) The plural “ages”. (But see Chap. 3.21 and Jude 25 and the
expression, “unto the ages of ages”.)
(b) The passage in Col. 1.26,27. But there is no mention there of
“the ages to come”, and we cannot see how that passage bears
very strongly on this one.
(c) The Second Coming is hardly ever alluded to in Ephesians.
But there is no argument in this.
454
EPHESIANS
(d) The present tense of "coming”. But this as in other places may
be a present of certainty with a future meaning. The very same
word is used in the singular in the present tense in Luke 18.30
and Mark 10.30, in both of which places it is used with "age”
and refers without doubt to the time after the Parousia. Cer¬
tainly if usage counts for anything the balance is in favor of
this second view.
This verse is used by many who favor the first view, in showing
that Paul did not believe the Parousia to be near, but that he expected
"coming ages” to intervene before that time.
But this is not at all a necessary, nor is it hardly a legitimate conclu¬
sion from the viewpoint under discussion, for if Paul used the phrase in
its technical sense, that is from the standpoint of Jewish teaching as they
looked forward to the ages of glory that were to follow close upon the
appearance of the Messiah, it is at once evident that by the expression,
"ages to come " no such time of waiting for the glory of the Messiah to
come such as this present dispensation has brought to us was ever associated
with the use of the words in question, as used by the teachers of Jewish
doctrine.
CHAPTER FOUR
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, in whom ye were sealed unto
the day of redemption.
Ver. 30. REDEMPTION FULLY REALIZED IN THE DAY OF CHRIST'S
Coming.
"the day of redemption” ,—The reference here is to the day “when
at the Parousia the certainty of the deliverance unto salvation becomes a
reality 1 ' (M.) ; “when the body is glorified with the Spirit" (Mo.) ;
"when the redemption shall be fully realized" (E. A.).
CHAPTER FIVE
5 For this ye know of a surety, that
no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor
covetous man, who is an idolater, hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and God.
Ver. 5. The Kingdom of Christ the Inheritance of the Pure in
Heart.
"the kingdom of Christ and God",—"The kingdom", says Meyer,
"which Christ opens at His Parousia and rules under the supreme dominion
of God (I Cor. 15.27) until the final consummation whereupon He yields
it up to God as the sole ruler (I Cor. 15.24,27)."
Riddle perhaps more appropriately says, "This kingdom is not merely
the future kingdom of glory but the present kingdom of grace
(Matt. 13)."
455
EPHESIANS
27 that he might present the church
to himself a glorious church, not hav¬
ing spot or wrinkle or any such thing;
but that it should be holy and without
blemish.
Ver. 27. The JOYFUL PRESENTATION OF THE SAINTS BEFORE CHRIST’S
Throne at His Coming.
That this presentation is to take place at the Second Coming is
generally admitted, the more so since that event is so frequently referred
to as a marriage. (R. A. E. O. Ea. Bra.) This is the purpose both of
the sanctification, in verse 24, and of the giving up of Himself, in verse 25.
The Church is to be presented as a bride, not as an offering.
“a glorious church ",—-This is somewhat inexact; the Church is to
be presented as glorious, this word being emphatic by reason of its position,
and explained by what follows.
"that he might present ",—We prefer the rendering, "that He might
Himself present to Himself", as supported not only by preponderant manu¬
script evidence, but as more appropriate to the actual circumstance. What
takes place is not as in the case of the bringing home of actual brides by
others, but Christ Himself presents the Church to Himself as a Bride at
the Parousia. (A. R. O. M. E. Ea. Bra.)
Riddle remarks that, "Clearly enough the Church is not yet ready to
be thus presented; but the Bridegroom is preparing her for it." This cer¬
tainly is true so far as the Church visible is concerned, but as to how far
it is true of the actual Bride one cannot be so certain.
Dr. David Brown adduces this verse, together with Col. 1.22, I
Thess. 3.13 and Jude 24, in proof that the Church will be absolutely
complete at His coming, and that therefore there can be no conversion of
the nations after that event, and that therefore the universal turning of
the nations to God, and the consequent Millennium, must take place before
the second advent of the Lord.
Whatever the teaching of Scripture elsewhere on this point, in order
that this verse shall be valid evidence of Dr. Brown’s contention, it will be
necessary to show first that the word "church", as here used, denotes the
total number of those who shall be saved; and even if it should thus com¬
prise the totality of the redeemed, it must be equally shown that there never
shall be in the future more than one manifestation of Christ in connection
with this earth; and even so, inasmuch as the word Parousia (translated
"coming") really means "presence" and therefore a period of time rather
than a point of time, many of the opponents of Dr. Brown’s teaching con
tend that it is nowhere declared in Scripture that this presentation of the
Church to Himself takes place immediately upon His glorious appearing.
CHAPTER SIX
13 Wherefore take up the whole
armor of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day. and, having
done all, to stand.
Ver. 13. The Christian’s Armor for the Evil Day.
"the evil day ",—Not the day of death (Era. Schm.), nor the day of
456
PHILIPPIANS
judgment (Jer.), nor the present life, hinting also at the idea of its brevity
(Chr. Oec. Theo.), in which case “age" would have been used instead of
H J 9 9
day.
Two other views remain, both of which agree that the definite article
indicates some special time.
1. Any felt crisis in the soul's resistance whenever it may be. (E. O.
A. R. B. D. Ru. Ba. Bl. Bra. Mel. Mat. The. Har. Winz.)
The day of violent temptation.
Moule says, "The definite article in such a phrase does not isolate
a solitary occasion, but denotes distinct occasions of the one class
in question."
2. "The day in which the Satanic power puts forth its last and
greatest outbreak, which last outbreak of the anti-christian king¬
dom Paul expected shortly before the Parousia." (M. Us.)
This second view is possible but we feel that the first view is
safer exegesis, i. e., the more conservative method of exegesis. The whole
passage seems to be concerned with a present wrestling with or against
present enemies.
The Epistle is quite silent on the subject of the Second Coming of
Christ as compared with the other of Paul’s writings.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
PHILIPPIANS
(A. D. 64)
CHAPTER ONE
6 being confident of this very thing,
that he who began a good work in you
will perfect it until the day of Jesus
Christ.
1 0 so that ye may ‘approve the things
that are excellent: that ye may be sin¬
cere and void of offence unto the day of
Christ:
J Or, distinguish the things that differ
Vers. 6,10. The Church Presented in Perfect Holiness at the
Day of Christ.
Ver. 6. “the day of Jesus Christ", —i. e., the day of His Second
Coming. Thus practically every commentator. While the day of the
Lord and the day, of Christ refer to the same period of time, on exam¬
ination it will be found that while the day of the Lord relates more to the
sinner and his punishment, the day of Christ relates the rather to the saint
and his reward. Erdman has said, "The transactions associated with the
day of Christ in every Scripture where it is found, pertain exclusively to
the risen and transfigured Church, and though presenting solemn judicial
aspects to His saints, they are nevertheless radiant with holy joy and trium¬
phant blessedness."
“will perfect it until ",—Alford and Meyer say this expression assumes
the nearness of the Coming of Christ. There is, of course, nothing in the
457
PHILIPPIANS
expression itself to warrant this deduction, but they say that unless this is
assumed there exists a difficulty of some considerable seriousness. If Christ
were to come in their time, then at His coming the good work begun in
them would be completed and there is no difficulty in the expression. But
if His coming was to be delayed, then what about those who die in the
meantime?
This has caused Estius to refer the expression to each one’s death,
and Hackett to assume “that the reason Paul did not say ‘death’ is because
the day of one’s death and the final advent of the Lord coincide so essen¬
tially in their moral consequences that this advent was habitually near to
the feelings and consciousness of the first Christians.” But this is both
gratuitous and unnecessary.
The fact is that some Christians were already dead and Paul knew it
(I Thess. 4.14), so if there is any difficulty in this direction, thinking
that Paul believed the Second Coming near at hand does not relieve it.
Calvin says the dead are still in process of being perfected, because
they have not yet reached the goal. But this is a makeshift. It is difficult
to see how the difficulty referred to presents itself, but so far as the nearness
of the advent is concerned, the facts are now before us, and if Paul did so
believe, we will need proof stronger than this passage affords to sub¬
stantiate it.
Ver. 10. “the day of Christ ",—The day is the same as that in verse
6. The expression here is introduced by "unto", which is a different prep¬
osition from that introducing it in verse 6. It means “for”. Our word
“against” expresses it well, i. e., so that when that day comes ye may be
found, etc. It marks the destination.
CHAPTER TWO
16 holding forth the word of life;
that I may have whereof to glory in the
day of Christ, that I did not run in
vain neither labor in vain.
Ver. 1 6. "day of Christ ",—The same day as that of verses 6 and 10.
CHAPTER THREE
9 and be found in him, *not having
a righteousness of mine own. even that
which is of the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteous¬
ness which is from God 'by faith. 10
that I may know him, and the power
J Or, not having as my righteousness that
which is of the law
"Gr. upon
Vers. 9,10,11. The RESURRECTION OUT FROM AMONG THE DEAD.
Ver. 9. "be found in him", —i. e., now and especially at His Com
ing. (M. A. R.)
Ver. 10. “know him", —i. e. f in the fullness of experimental knowl¬
edge.
of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his sufferings, becoming conformed
unto his death; 11 if by any means I
may attain unto the resurrection from
the dead.
458
PHILIPPIANS
"power of his resurrection", —The reference here is not to the power
by which He was raised (Gro.), but the power which His resurrection
exercises on believers, in assuring them of their justification (Rom. 4.25),
and of their being raised with Him (Rom. 6.4; Col. 2.12).
Ver. 11.
the dead ",—
"if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from
The two particles translated "if by any means" are used when an end
is proposed but the possibility of failure to reach it is presumed. This at
once shows that Paul had something else in his mind other than any general
resurrection, because Paul knew quite well that he would be resurrected.
It was the Christian's resurrection to which Paul was of course referring.
Now certainly there is a difference between a Christian’s resurrection and
that of an unbeliever. There is this difference whenever the resurrection
takes place, whether the dead are all raised at once or a thousand years apart.
But does the time element enter into this verse? Does this verse give
support to the distinction between a first and a second resurrection? The
literal for the word "resurrection" is "rise up", but here Paul has added
another preposition, and the literal of the word "resurrection" as here used
by Paul is "rise up out of", the verb thus having two prepositions con¬
nected with it, and it is the only instance where it is so used.
Next we come to the words, "from the dead" , and here is the preposi¬
tion "from" used with "the dead" in addition to the two prepositions used
in the word "resurrection" . The whole expression is then literally "rise
up out of from among the dead", the two prepositions "out of" and
"from" being one and the same word, "ek".
It is this expression, as thus literally translated, that causes many
here to find the reference to what is known as the first resurrection. Meyer
has sought to eliminate this preposition "ek" (from among) standing
before "the dead" from the text, but it is entrenched entirely too strongly
by manuscript authority to be thus set aside.
Meyer says the word " resurrection ", as used here by Paul, is to be
distinguished neither in substance nor style from the more simple word
which Paul ordinarily uses, but is to be explained solely from the more
vividly imaginative view which the Apostle has in mind. But a conten¬
tion of this sort seems rather groundless in face of the most unusual, and
otherwise uncalled for, form which the Apostle has given to the expression.
Meyer together with Alford, Ellicott, Braune and many other schol¬
arly commentators say the expression refers to "up out of" the earth. This
may be true, but we are still confronted with the other expression, "from
among the dead". There are those expositors who claim that the word
"resurrection" alone, in the form here used by Paul, means "up out of the
dead", but whether this be so or not, certainly taken with the rest of the
expression, it must refer to some sort of an eclectic resurrection.
Olshausen declares that "the phrase would be inexplicable if it were
not derived from the idea that out of the mass of the dead some would rise
first". If this is not true we are simply at a loss to know why Paul piled
up these expressive prepositions the way he did, and why he was not here
content to use the simple word he used in other places, where he spoke
of the resurrection of the dead, as for instance in Acts 24.15, where he was
459
PHILIPPIANS
speaking to those who were utterly incapable of entering into the Chris¬
tian’s proper hope.
Of course it is not out of the range of possibility that Paul was here
speaking of his own hoped for Christian resurrection, which of course
would be a resurrection out of the place where the dead are, a resurrection
to such blessed glory as might well be the hope and inspiration of every
child of God, and that the rest of the dead and their destiny did not neces¬
sarily enter into the Apostle’s concept.
We cannot, however, force ourselves from the inclination toward the
other explanation, and to this it must be added that if the teaching of a
first and second resurrection is found in Scripture anywhere, and if such
was accordingly the belief of the Apostle, it is only natural to think that
he must have had this distinction in mind when he made use of the particu¬
lar prepositions in this passage.
However, altogether apart from the above discussion, the resurrection
to which Paul made reference, is, as all admit, " The blessed resurrection of
the dead in Christ in which those who are Christ's shall rise at His
Parousia. (I Cor. 15.23 and I Thess. 4.16)." (A. M. E. Bra.)
It is, of course, the plain teaching of the Scriptures that the Christian
shall rise first,—" each in his own order; Christ , the first fruits; then they
that are Christ's at His coming"; then, of course, the wicked, but just
how long after most certainly does not enter into the content of this verse
in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
CHAPTER FOUR
5 Let your 'forbearance be known
unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
'Or , gentleness. Comp. 2 Cor. 10.1.
Ver. 5. The Second COMING OF THE LORD NOT TO BE LONG
Delayed.
"The Lord is at hand" ,—The words may apply either to the fore
going or to the following, or better still be taken with reference to both.
Of course the reference is to the Second Coming of Christ, concerning the
immediateness of which, Riddle says, there was wide-spread expectation.
Meyer says, "The expression points to the nearness of Christ’s
Parousia."
Ellicott says, "The inspired Apostle regards the Second Coming ot
Christ as nigh, yet not necessarily as immediate, nor as necessarily happen¬
ing in his own life-time."
Hackett, while admitting that the reference is more probably to
Christ’s nearness in point of time, says, "There is no necessary, certainly
no exclusive reference here to a definite expectation of the near advent ot
Christ." Some simply will not have it so.
460
COLOSSIANS
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
COLOSSIANS
(A. D. 64)
CHAPTER ONE
1 3 who delivered us out of the power
of darkness, and translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love.
Ver. 13. The Kingdom Here and Now.
"translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love 1 , —This is a
historical fact realized at our conversion, and the kingdom is that which is
now present. With this agrees almost everyone but Meyer, who perti¬
naciously maintains all such references exclusively refer to the future king¬
dom which is to set in at the Parousia. He, of course, must here take
"translated" proleptically, as something already consummated.
CHAPTER THREE
4 When Christ, who is 'our life, shall
be manifested, then shall ye also with
him be manifested in glory.
’Many authorities read your
Ver. 4. Christ's Manifestation the Time of Holy Perfection.
"out life", —Alford has well remarked that Christ is personally Him¬
self that life, and that we possess it only by union with Him and His
resurrection.
"shall be manifested", —i. e., shall come forth from His present con¬
cealment at the Parousia, be personally revealed. This word is never
used of the coming of Christ to judge the wicked or to punish them. All
of its transactions pertain only to the blessed phase of the Advent.
"with him be 'manifested in glory" ,—This manifestation in glory
of believers who are still living takes place through their being changed in
the moment of rapture, as the readers were aware, and, of course, of the
departed through their resurrection.
Braune and Meyer and many other splendid authorities say that the
believers too shall be manifested visibly, their bodies having been glorified.
Alford has said, "It includes in itself both spiritual, ethical and cor¬
poreal; and the realization so far as possible here is the sum of the Chris¬
tian’s most earnest endeavors; but the life itself in its full manifestation
is that perfection of body, soul and spirit, in which we shall be manifested
with Him at His appearing."
CHAPTER FOUR
5 Walk in wisdom toward them that
are without, Redeeming the time.
’Gr. buying up the opportunity
461
I THESSALONIANS
Ver. 5. “redeeming the time”, —Many see in this expression a refer¬
ence to the shortness of the time before the coming again of the Lord. (Ca.
Bah. Oec. Chr.) But even Meyer says this is gratuitously imported, and
surely when Meyer doesn't catch this idea in a passage, it is not to be found.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
THESSALONIANS
(A. D. 54)
CHAPTER ONE
10 and to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, who delivereth us from the
wrath to come.
Ver. 10. Waiting for the Second Coming a Commendable Char¬
acteristic of the Christian's Life.
To wait for Christ’s return (this verse) and to serve the living and
true God (verse 9) are here set forth as the aim of conversion and the
characteristic of the Christian life. It comes like a surprise that hope of
the Second Coming is raised here to such explicit and emphatic emphasis.
We would rather have expected faith in Christ to have been set forth as
the other characteristic mark of the Christian life alongside of the service
of God. But this hope presupposes faith, while Christ's deliverance of us
from the wrath to come points to faith as its necessary condition.
“to wait *',—So far as the word itself is concerned we are warranted to
assign to it nothing more than the notion of patience and confidence.
But in view of what seems to have been their understanding concerning
the matter, it is quite conceivable that they would read into the word the
idea of nearness, i. e., nearness of the Second Coming. (A. Dw. Lu.)
This verse cannot, however, be taken as a proof text for this opinion on
the part of the Apostles and early Christians.
“whom he raised from the dead’', —The resurrection of Jesus from the
dead is the great fact by which He is shown to be the Son of God (Rom.
1.4), and by which at the same time His return is rendered possible and
certain. (I Pet. 1.3-5.)
“wrath to come”, —i. e., at the judgment which Christ will hold at
His advent.
CHAPTER TWO
12 to the end that ye should walk
worthily of God. who ’calleth you into
His own kingdom and glory.
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or
’Some ancient authorities read called
crown of glorying? Are not even ye
before our Lord Jesus at His doming?
20 For ye are our glory and our joy.
2 Gr. presence. Comp. 2 Cor. 10.10.
Vers. 12,19,20. The Lord's Coming the Time of Reward for the
Faithful Servant.
Ver. 12. “to the end ",—This belongs to all three of the preceding
462
I THESSALONIANS
particles as expressing their purpose (A. D. Rig. Coc.) rather than their
object, as introducing the thing they were exhorted and encouraged and
testified unto to do, as Lunneman says.
"who calleth" ,—We have here the present because the action is ex¬
tended on into the future.
*
"his own kingdom and glory", —Both words have the same rank
and the same emphasis. It is not therefore the "kingdom of His glory"
nor the "glory of his kingdom" (O. Ben. Kop. Bol. Tur.). The glory
is not the glory of the kingdom, but the glory of God.
It is not implied that the Thessalonians are already in that kingdom,
but that they are only called to be citizens of it at some future time. The
kingdom is that which is to be established at His coming. Lillie has put
it well, "God calls you to a participation in His own kingdom which will
appear at Christ’s second advent, and to a participation in His own divine
glory, into which believers then enter through the change of the living
(I Cor. 15.21) and the resurrection of the dead (I Thess. 4.17)." The
glory is that which God Himself has and which our Lord Jesus had with
Him before the world began.
Ver. 19. A reason for the twice formed resolution (verse 18) of the
Apostle to return to the Thessalonians.
The second clause of the verse is a confirmatory and explanatory
question set forth as an answer to the one just propounded in the first
clause. The rendering of the Authorized Version forms a very acceptable
translation. The Revised Version differs only in punctuation, placing a
comma after "ye".
The punctuation of the Revised Version makes "before our Lord
Jesus at His coming" modify all three of the preceding predicates. It
seems as though Paul had written, "For what is our hope or joy or crown
of glorying? Are not even ye?", and then as a closer definition of what
he meant he added, "before our Lord Jesus at His coming ".
With this view we feel that a dash after "ye" instead of a comma
would be preferable. Westcott and Hort put a dash there and also one
after "glorying" instead of the question mark there, and satisfy the passage
with a question mark at the close after "coming ".
This rendering of the Revised Version, which is perhaps preferable,
designates the presence of the Lord at His coming as the place of the hope
and joy and glorying, and at the same time states or emphatically implies
that the Thessalonians are to be present and accepted of the Lord at the
time of His coming. The Authorized Version emphasizes this last point
and implies the former.
Some critics seem by their exposition to refer the hope and the joy to
the then present life of Paul and the glorying to the time of the presence
}f the Lord at His coming.
Lunneman, for instance, says that the hope consists in this, that Paul
s confident that the Thessalonians will not be put to shame but will be
found blameless in that day, and the joy consists in the fact that by the
:onversion of the Thessalonians and their Christian conduct the kingdom
>f God has been promoted. But even though Lunneman's idea of the
463
I THESSALONIANS
hope and the joy be accepted, there is no reason why it should not be
thought of as operating at the same time and place with the glorying.
However, most expositors take “hope” as the anticipation of reward
on account of the conversion of the Thessalonians as effected by Paul.
(L. Au. Es. Hof. From. Roos.) This is perhaps the most natural explan¬
ation, and the thought of the whole passage has been aptly expressed, and
no doubt correctly, by Roos, “We hope on your account to have rich
experience at the Coming of Christ, when we shall be able to joy over you.
and to parade with you as one parades with a crown won in a contest of
games/’ This reference to the crown as won in the game is the ground
thought in the expression, “crown of glorying”, as admitted by all.
Ver. 20. An impassioned answer to the question in verse 19.
Some refer verse 19 to the Parousia and verse 20 to the then present.
(A. FI. Hof.) But had Paul intended this distinction of time he would
have marked it, and the change is vigorously opposed by Ellicott, Lunne-
man and most other scholars of note.
CHAPTER THREE
he may establish your hearts unblamable
in holiness before 'our God and Father,
at the 'coming of our Lord Jesus with
all his saints.
’Or, God and our Father
: Gr. presence
Vers. 12,13. The Believer Unreproachable at the Coming of
the Lord.
Ver. 12. “the Lord ”,—The reference is here preferably to Christ
(E. O. Lu. Rig.), although it may with propriety be referred to God (A.).
“increase”, —Not in numbers (The.), but*in grace, in faith and
knowledge and richness of gifts, etc.
“even as we do ”,— It is possible to connect this phrase with both
“increase” and “abound”, although by most it is connected only 'with the
latter.
Ver. 13. “to the end ”,—Expressing the aim of the contents of
verse 12.
“in holiness ”,—This belongs to “unblamable” and not to “estab
lish”. It specifies the sphere in which the blessedness is to be known.
“before our God and Father”, —This belongs grammatically to the
whole “unblamable in holiness”, the genuineness of which is assured by its
being not before the eyes of men but before the eyes of God.
“at the coming” ,—Parousia; presence.
“with all His saints ”,—This means either angels (D. Lu.), glorified
believers (FI. Hus. Hof. Ger.), or both (A. E. PI. Ba. Rig.)
Some of these writers, thinking that the word must refer to glorified
believers because the word is never used in the New Testament of angels,
throw the expression back and join it to “unblamable in holiness” . But
this is awkward and it is not necessary even from the standpoint of these
writers, because it is a fact that angels do come with Christ at His advent
12 and the Lord make you to in¬
crease and abound in love one toward
another, and toward all men, even as
we also do toward you; 1 3 to the end
464
I THESSAL ONIANS
(Matt. 16.27), and the word is used in the Hebrew of the Old Testament
and in the Septuagint exclusively of angels, unless Zech. '15.5 be excepted.
The word is "agioi". It is used, as we have said, in the Old Testament of
angels, but in the New Testament it is never used of angels, but always of
believers—and how often!
But do holy men, glorified believers, come with the Lord at His
advent? The added "his" makes one think of believers because angels
are never elsewhere called His.
The collective mass, "with all", makes one think of believers because
it is hardly conceivable that all the heavenly hosts should accompany
Christ when He comes, but it might be that all believers should.
Now if it can be shown from any other passages of Scripture that
glorified believers do accompany Christ when He comes, then it would
seem preferable to take the expression here as referring to both angels and
glorified saints, if not to the latter alone, in keeping with New Testament
usage. That this can be shown there is no doubt and is quite generally
acknowledged.
Alford says, "We need not enter into any discussion whether these are
angels or saints properly so-called. The expression is an Old Testament
one and was probably meant by Paul to include both. Certainly He will
be accompanied by the angels, but also with the spirits of the just. (Matt.
25.31; II Thess. 1.7; I Thess. 4.14.)."
Riggenbach says, "Saints are with Christ immediately after death,
and He will bring them with Himself, raising them before the rapture of
the living, and thus they may be described as coming with Him."
CHAPTER FOUR
13 But we would not have you
ignorant, brethren, concerning them that
fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as
the rest, who have no hope. 14 For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also that are fallen
asleep ’in Jesus will God bring with
him. 1 5 For this we say unto you by
the word of the Lord, that we that are
alive, that are left unto the ‘‘coming of
the Lord, shall in no wise precede them
‘(ir. through. Or, will God through Jesus
'Or. presence
that are fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven, with
a shout, with the voice of the arch¬
angel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17
then we that are alive, that are left, shall
together with them be caught up in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18
Wherefore J comfort one another with
these words.
3 Or, exhort. Chap. 5.11.
Vers. 13-18. The Rapture at His Coming, the Believer's Blessed
Hope.
Ver. 13. "But .... brethren ",—A common formula of transition
to the imparting of weighty information by the Apostle.
"fall asleep", —i. e., from time to time among you. It was, as
Alford says, "an expression conveying definite meaning to the Thessa-
lonians as importing the dead in Christ."
It seems as though Paul had gotten notice in some way of a misunder¬
standing on the part of the Thessalonians, and he in this verse rectifies it.
What were these Thessalonian Christians worrying about?
465
I THESSALONIANS
We quote for what they are worth in the estimation of the reader
the following words from Olshausen. He says, “They seem not to have
been duly informed as to the first resurrection and its relation to the uni¬
versal one. The dead they thought would not return to life till at the
general resurrection of the dead after the coming kingdom of Christ on
earth, and would therefore be debarred from the bliss of this kingdom."
We have thought much over this passage and if Olshausen is not right
as to the reason for their sorrow it is a seriously difficult matter to under¬
stand just why they seem to have been so troubled. Olshausen goes on to
say, “To their misunderstanding Paul now opposes the information that
those dead in the faith would rise before the general resurrection and accord¬
ingly those living at Christ’s coming could not possibly anticipate the
former." Let us bring the matter home to ourselves. It is exceedingly
hard to get away from this explanation. They were disturbed about
their departed loved ones. If there is to be but one general resurrection,
as many believe, and this resurrection is to be at some future time when
the Christian people now living, and who have departed loved ones, are
likewise to be in the grave awaiting that resurrection, what advantage shall
we who are now living have at that time over those who are now dead,
if they died in the faith? Now this same thing would have applied to the
Thessalonian Christians had they had this same belief about the resur¬
rection.
They must have felt therefore that they who were living were in
some way advantaged as to their own believing dead, and in what way
this could have been, other than that mentioned above, it is not easy to see.
It would seem therefore from this passage, as thus explained, that these
Thessalonian believers were rather expecting to be living at the time of
the return of the Lord.
“that ye sorrow not ”,—Many find in this the thought that the Thes-
salonians should not mourn in the same degree, not so excessively, because
the Apostle could not possibly forbid every mourning for the dead. (C.
Ca. FI. Hem. Pis. Lap. Ben. Pel. Bis. Coc. Hof. Rig. Bio.) But if Paul
had meant this he would have stated it differently; and besides the particle
“even as" is only a particle of comparison and not of degree. It is abso¬
lute. The Apostle forbids sorrowing altogether. (A. Lu. PI.)
But we must remember what sort of sorrow it was—not that we are
forbidden to mourn our loss, but that we must not be sorrowful for theirs.
That is, we are not to sorrow at all as those who look upon death as anni¬
hilation and have no hope of the resurrection. Death has no sting for
the Christian.
“the rest ”,—The heathen and unbelievers in general, including
especially such Jews as did not believe in the resurrection at all.
Ver. 14. Now comes the reason why they were not to sorrow.
“if we believe ',—Lunneman says, and rightly, “It is clear that he
supposes the fact of the death and resurrection of Christ as an absolute
recognized truth, as indeed, among the early Christians generally no doubt
was raised concerning the reality of this fact."
“even so ”,—This expression is designed to bring forth the agreement
of the fate of Christians with that of Christ, i. e., even so, as Christ died
and rose again, them also, etc.
466
I THESSALONIANS
The expression has been taken, but hardly with sufficient ground, in
two other ways: (1) "even so, if they are asleep with this belief, them
also", (Hof. Coc.); (2) "even so, if this our belief is true, them also"
(Rig.).
"asleep in Jesus", —The literal is "asleep through Jesus". The prep¬
osition is dia, through.
This has caused some to say that it refers to those who were brought
to death through Jesus, i. e., on account of Him., i. e., the Christian
martyrs. (Me. Ar. Ham. Thi. Mus. Til. Salm.) But—
1. This is entirely foreign to the Apostle’s design, to limit this partici¬
pation in the glory of the returning Christ to so small a portion
of Christians.
2. The indications in both Epistles have nothing to do with perse¬
cutions that ended in bloody death.
3. The expression is entirely too weak to express death through
martyrdom.
4. What, in any case, would this have to do with the question in
hand?
Many others follow the rendering of our Version and connect the
preposition with " fallen asleep ", and translate, "fallen asleep in Jesus".
(C. Es. Ca. Wh. Jo. Hil. Rig. Vor. Hem. Zan. Chr. Lap. Bez. Gro. Wol.
Ben. Mac. Kop. Cali.) This is all right so far as the general trend of the
Apostle’s thought goes, for he is manifestly throughout this section speak¬
ing of the Christian dead. This is confirmed especially in verse 16.
But this rendering hardly gives the proper sense to the preposition
(dia), "through" . Then again, the very fact that in verse 16 Paul uses
the preposition (ev) "in" leads one to believe that if he had meant "in"
here, he would have used that preposition, namely (ev) "in", and not
(£ia) "through" . If the Apostle meant the same thing in each place why
did he so quickly bring into use a different preposition?
This has caused some to join (dia) " through " to the word "bring ",
as in the margin of the Revised Version. (O. D. Lu. Hof.; and Riggenbach
says "almost all moderns".) This gives to dia its exact sense and
harmonizes with the fact that elsewhere Christ is the instrument through
which God brings to pass the resurrection. (I Cor. 15.21 and John 5.28.)
The meaning by this interpretation would then be that these sleeping
ones God through Jesus would bring with Jesus.
The objection that "bring" already has a modifying clause in "with
him" is no valid objection to this rendering, but Alford's objection that it
gives us a "flat and dragging expression which 1 am persuaded the Apostle
could never have written", is not without some weight.
Since, however, either of the two views above mentioned are con¬
sistent with the general thought, it matters little how we choose between
them. The rendering of the Revised Version runs a bit more smoothly,
but since it lays the Apostle open to the charge of a loose use of the prepo¬
sitions, we are inclined to decide for the last view mentioned and accord¬
ingly read with the margin, which connects "through Jesus" with the
verb "bring ".
Alford indeed has another view but it is arbitrary and insufficient.
He retains the sense of "through" and still connects the words with "fallen
467
I THESSALONIANS
asleep He unduly presses the distinction between being asleep and being
dead. "Why”, he asks, "are the departed Christians asleep, and not dead?"
"By whom”, he asks, "have they been thus privileged? Certainly through
Jesus.” He inappropriately regards such constructions as Rom. 1.8; 5.1 ;
II Cor. 1.5, etc., as analogous expressions. His interpretation, with which
certain other writers agree (E. Mi. Bar. Wor. Vau.), is entirely too strained.
"bring with him”, —This is a pregnant expression which gives,
instead of the act of resurrection, that which follows the act in time. Their
resurrection is implied in their being brought.
'‘with him”, —-i. e., with Jesus.
Ver. 15. " this”, — i. e., what follows.
"by the word of the Lord”, — It was not by Paul's subjective opinion,
but by the very word of the Lord, i. e., there can be no mistake in what
is about to follow.
Where did the Lord say this?
The expression no doubt refers to a direct revelation by the Lord
to Paul. That Paul had many such revelations we know from various
other passages. (O. E. A. D. Ar. Tur. Ben. Kop. Rig. Mold. Ges.)
Some (Bol. Pel. Mus.) suppose him to refer to the words of Jesus
in Matt. 24.31, to which Ewald adds Lu. 14.14 and Hofmann adds Matt.
26.27 and Zwingli adds Matt. 25.1, but all these expressions, as Lunne-
man says, "are too general to be identified with the special thought of our
passage”, nor do they correspond to the expression, "by the word of the
Lord”, which points to positive information on the definite subject in
question.
Calvin appeals to a lost expression of Christ’s, but this is quite arbi¬
trary, and furthermore we have no evidence of, nor can we think of any in¬
ducement to Christ to set forth such special instruction in His day.
"we that are alive ”,— Paul does not say, "they that are alive”; he
says "we”, thus presumably including himself.
It will not do with Calvin, much to our surprise, to charge the Apos¬
tle with little pious fraud; supposing that he, although he was convinced
of the distance of the event, nevertheless represented himself as surviving in
order in this way to stimulate believers to be in a state of spiritual readi
ness at every instant.
It will be well to note first that the revelation of the Lord refers only
to the chief idea of the relation of the living to the dead at the Lord’s
coming—that those who are alive will not go before those who are dead:
but that it does not refer to the question of who shall or who shall not
be among the different classes in that day. If Paul had said, "I know by a
revelation from the Lord that we shall witness the advent of Christ”,
the case would be different.
It is, however, unreasonable to contend that the possibility of their
being alive at the Parousia cannot attach itself to the Apostle’s thought.
It does look as if Paul should have said, had he thought that the coming
was to be long delayed, "Don’t worry about your dead, for long before
the Lord comes you will be in the same condition as they are now.” In
fact it would seem that the whole doctrine could not have the slightest
468
I THESSALONIANS
practical significance for them unless the coming of the Lord was deemed
possible before their death.
1. That Paul did mean for them to infer the possibility of his own
and their being alive at that time is accordingly the view of many.
Lunneman says, “Every unprejudiced person must, even from these
dogmatic suppositions, recognize that Paul here includes himself along
with the Thessalonians, among those who will be alive at the second
advent of Christ."
Alford says, “Beyond doubt he himself expected to be alive, together
with a majority of those to whom he was writing, at the Lord's coming.
That this was Paul's expectation we know from other passages, especially
from II Cor. 5.1-10. It does not seem to be so strong toward the end
of his course. (Phil. 1.20-26.)"
Olshauscn says, "It is unmistakably clear from this that Paul deemed
it possible that he and his contemporaries might live to see the coming
again of Christ."
Dods says, “That the words of Paul are susceptible of a meaning
which would imply that he expected to live until the Lord came again is
evident from the circumstances that some of the Thessalonians, with whom
the Greek was the mother tongue, did so understand the words."
On the supposition that this view is correct, Alford, who strongly
espouses it, says, "It need not surprise any Christian that the Apostles
should in this matter of detail have found their personal expectations liable
to disappointment, respecting a day of which it is so solemnly said that
no man knoweth its appointed time, not the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but the Father only."
What the above quoted authorities have to say about Paul's convic¬
tion in regard to this matter may be looked upon with favor, but the
conclusion must not be made to rest too largely upon the inference that
may legitimately be drawn from this verse. The fact is that the word
"we" has little if anything to do with the question at issue. Paul doubt¬
less hoped that he might be alive when Christ returned, but he has nowhere
told us that he believed that he would be of the number living at that time;
for how, then, could he have spoken so doubtfully about it in Phil. 1.21 ;
2.17; II Cor. 5.9, and in a still different tone in II Tim. 4.6?
Again, in I Thess. 5.1 he says that we do not know the time; conse¬
quently he could not have had any fixed belief about the matter one way
or the other.
Again, if by "we" he meant to say that he would be alive at the
Parousia, then the same thing would have to be true of every one of the
Thessalonians, which thing is manifestly absurd.
But still again, and this is rather conclusive, if Paul had believed
that he would be of the number living at the Parousia, and manifested the
same by the use of the word "we", then by the very same argument it is
conclusive that he believed that he would be dead and in his grave at that
time, because he said in I Cor. 6.14, "God will raise us up". Note also
that this last is used in the same Epistle in which he said, "We shall all be
changed". (See also II Cor. 4.14 and compare I Thess. 5.10 and Acts
20.29.)
469
I THESSALONIANS
2. Consequently, there have been those who have maintained that
Paul here speaks neither of himself nor yet of his contemporaries,
but of a later period of Christianity. Lunneman says this view
has been almost universally maintained, and it is indeed the view
of a very great number of interpreters. (C. B. FI. Wh. Ca. Bra.
Chr. The. Oec. Mus. Bui. Zan. Hun. Vor. Bal. Lap. Lau. Ben.
Cali. Theo.)
These expositors take the plural only conversationally as not intend¬
ing the idea that Paul and his readers might be alive at the second coming
of Christ.
We are inclined to believe that Paul did use the plural “only conver¬
sationally", but this by no means excludes the possibility of the proba¬
bility that Paul did have in mind the thought that he as well as the Thessa-
lonians might be alive when his Lord returned, although it would hardly
be legitimate to draw this conclusion, either from the use of the word "we"
or from this one verse as a whole.
Paul seems simply to have opposed the two classes one to another—
those who were dead with those who were living—and of course classed
himself with the latter and spoke in a representative way, in the sense that
one could just as appropriately say the same thing today, without believing
in anything more than the possibility or perhaps the probability of the
Parousia occurring in our day. Paul certainly had just as much reason
for believing in the imminency of the Parousia as has anyone today.
There are other renderings, some of which express possible explan¬
ations of the matter in hand, but which cannot be substituted for the ren¬
dering of the text for grammatical reasons:
(a) “We, provided we are then alive, etc." (Tur. Pel. Hof.)
(b) “We, so many of us as are alive, etc." (L.)
It is certain that it was concerning them that had fallen asleep (verse
13) the Thessalonians were worried and anxious. It is also evident that
they expected the Lord to come before they themselves died (wherever they
got their information), else their worry would have been about their own
selves after they had died, and their question would have been, “What
about us?" Lunneman strangely thinks that the Thessalonians did not
believe in a resurrection at all. But there is nothing in the passage before
us to indicate this. Again, Paul did not reprove them for any such belief,
or unbelief rather, as he did in the case of the Corinthians. Nor do the
words of verse 1 3 prove in any sense that they did not believe in the resur¬
rection at all. Olshausen rightly says, “Had the Thessalonians believed
in no resurrection at all, then there could have been no talk of the living
preceding the dead."
Lunneman draws his inference from the last clause of the verse,
"sorrow not even as the others who have no hope". But this does not say
that the Thessalonians had no hope, any more than when in Chap. 5.5 he
says, “ Indulge not in lust , even as the Gentiles who know not God" , it
proves that the Thessalonians know not God. It is the rather. Because
you do know Him, be not like those who know Him not. And so in
verse 13 it is, “Sorrow not as those who have no hope, because you do
have hope", that Paul says.
470
I THESSALONIANS
But what kind of a hope did they have? It was the hope of the last
resurrection, what is known as the general resurrection, which hope of
course the unbeliever did not have.
It is supposed by some (O. D. Hof.) that they had no doubt about
the resurrection at the final consummation, but that they knew nothing
about a first resurrection prior to that time. If there is a resurrection of
this kind, then this solution is doubtless the correct one, and the idea would
be that in the kingdom just at hand, as they supposed, their beloved dead
have no part.
It would seem that if the Thessalonians had believed that all the dead
would rise at the coming of the Lord they would have had none of the
anxiety that led Paul to say what he did to them, for if all the dead were
then to arise, most assuredly their own dead would be among the number.
Olshausen contends that it is only on the ground that they believed
in the general resurrection at the end of the kingdom, and that Christ was
soon to come and establish that kingdom in which they, being alive when
He came, hoped to have a part, that the anxiety could have arisen, because
in this case their dead would have no part in the kingdom reign and glory.
“shall in no wise precede”, —i. e., get before, so that the dead be left
behind and fail of the prize.
Ver. 16 . “the Lord Himself”, —In contrast to any other kind of a
revelation of Himself through angels or other operations. (O. Es. Ham.
Bis.)
It seems to be as Alford says, that this is “said for solemnity's sake
and too that it will not be a mere gathering to Him, but He Himself will
descend and we shall all be called to meet Him."
“with a shout”, —This refers to a signal shout of any kind given
by the voice and is usually used as a word of command.
To whom is the shout to be referred? It seems as though Paul set
forth first and primarily the shout, and then defines it by the two follow¬
ing expressions, “the voice of the archangel” and “the trump of God”. If
this is so, then it would seem best to refer the shout to the archangel, who
for the publication of it uses partly his voice and partly a trumpet. The
content of the shout is the imperative call or command which reaches the
sleeping Christians to summon them from their graves, consequently the
resurrection-call. (A. E. Jo. Lu. The. Hof. Dod. Cali. Stea.)
Others have referred the shout to God—to His imperative call to
bring about the advent. (Hun. Bis.) But this would make it refer to an
act preceding the descending, and would call for another preposition than
the one used.
Still others have referred the shout to Christ. (O. Gro. Oec. Rig.)
But this comes into collision with the expression, “the voice of the arch¬
angel”. Riggenbach says it is the shout of Christ, as that of a victorious
Captain, whose order summons to battle, for the destruction of His enemies
and the extermination of the anti-Christian powers. He says, "We have
three particulars following each other in rapid succession: the Commander's
call of the King Himself: the voice of the archangel summoning the other
angels; and the trumpet of God which awakes the dead and summons
believers. The sounds will be heard and the signs will be seen." To
inquire which archangel is futile.
471
I THESSALONIANS
The trumpet, as used by the archangel, is called the trumpet of God.
either because it excels all earthly trumpets in the power of its sound (B.
Ba. Ca. Lap. Wol. Ben. Bol.), or because it will be blown at the command
of God (O. Bal. Lau. Pelt. Schot.), or because it belongs to God and will
be blown in His service (D. A. E. Koc. Stae.).
"The dead in Christ shall rise first", —Schott arbitrarily attaches
“in Christ" to “shall rise", on the ground that if we conceive of Paul as
here speaking of the dead in Christ being raised that the doctrine of two
resurrections is thereby taught. This is a bold but unwarranted exegetical
stroke to avoid a disagreeable conclusion.
The expression does not denote, as some maintain (Oec. Theo.), the
first resurrection in contrast to the resurrection of all men at a later period,
which distinction is left entirely unnoticed in this passage, the contrast
being only between what will take place in case of the righteous dead and
the righteous living. (O. A. Lu. Jo. Rig.)
Ver. 17. “then", —i. e., immediately after the dead in Christ have
arisen.
"with them", —i. e., with the resurrected dead in Christ.
“caught up", —This is after the change indicated in I Cor. 15.51,52
and II Cor. 5.2-4. The word means “snatched away”, and is an expres¬
sion depicting swiftness and irresistible force.
“in the clouds", —i. e., enveloped in the clouds, or perhaps on the
clouds. The same idea is to be found in Psa. 104.3; Dan. 7.13; Acts
1.9,11; Matt. 24.30. Alford and Lunneman connect these words with
“caught up", but the meaning is the same whether thus connected or con¬
nected with “meet" . The latter connection appeals to us the better, how¬
ever, from the fact that the words are nearer each other, and “caught up"
already has one modifying clause.
“and so shall we ever be with the Lord", —Some have taken this to
mean that we are to have our permanent abode with Him in the air. (We.
Us. Pelt. Stae.) But II Cor. 5.1 says our permanent abode is in heaven.
Paul goes no further here because his purpose was accomplished, it
being wholly and entirely to satisfy the doubt raised by the Thessalonians
concerning the advent of Christ. It was for this same reason doubtless
that he remained quiet about the change of believers who may be alive at
the time of the advent.
Some have taken the words to indicate that we shall remain with
Him in the air and in the heavens and that He does not therefore come
down to earth for the establishment of an earthly kingdom. The fact is
Paul says nothing about this here one way or the other. However, from
the fact that the narrative stops with the meeting of the saints in the air
with the Lord, lends strength to the intimation that what is here said is
more favorable to an abiding of His people with the Lord elsewhere than
on the earth in a personal reign. And yet from the words alone one is
not warranted in drawing any positive conclusion one way or the other.
Lillie calls attention to the fact that the word used for “meet" is used
in only three other places in the New Testament, and in all of them (Matt.
25.1,6; Acts 28.15) the party met continues after the meeting to advance
472
I THESSALONIANS
still in the direction in which he was moving previously. This in interest¬
ing, but of course it proves nothing with any degree of certainty in this
case.
Olshausen says that after Christ meets the saints He returns with
them to heaven, into His heavenly abode at the right hand of God, and
that we nowhere read that Christ and the glorified believers will reign on
the earth during the Millennium, and that to "reign upon the earth" in
Rev. 5.10 is really to “reign over the earth", and that this they can do
from heaven and that both Christ and the saints may perhaps even now
and then appear to individuals as Christ did during the forty days after
the resurrection.
Ver. 1 8. “with these words", —i. e., the words Paul had just spoken
to them, and not the doctrines of the faith in general. (O. Ar. FI. Pelt.)
CHAPTER FIVE
with child; and they shall in no wise
escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake
you 'as a thief: 5 for ye are all sons
of light, and sons of the day: we are
not of the night, nor of darkness; 6 so
then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but
let us watch and be sober.
'Or, as thieves
Vers. 1-6. THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED COMING OF THE DAY OF
the Lord.
Ver. 1. "times and seasons ",—The same expression is used by
Christ in Acts 1.
Times denotes times in general, while seasons denotes the definite
points or periods of time in the former.
It is probable the expression had become a common one for giving a
greater completeness than either word alone would give and that the dis¬
tinctive meaning of each word had been somewhat lost sight of. There
can be, of course, no way to be certain of this, but if the two terms are
to be distinguished, the above distinction is the correct one. The expres¬
sion, as Campbell Morgan says, is no haphazard one, but refers to the
whole providential arrangement marked out by God, and is here used
with special bearing upon the time of the end when the Lord was to come
again.
Riggenbach thinks that the idea of longer duration lurks in the use
of the plural of these words as here used by Paul.
“have no need ",—It was not because such instruction would not be
useful to them (Oec. Theo.), nor because no instruction could be given
unto them (Zw. Es. FI. Ba. Hun. Koc. From. Pelt.), but because Paul
had already by word of mouth taught them as much as could be known,
which was that the time was unknown and could not be known. (A. Lu.
Rig. Dod.)
This had doubtless formed the topic of frequent discussions among
the Thessalonians and perhaps they had sent the question to Paul through
Timothy.
1 But concerning the times and the
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that
aught be written unto you. 2 For your¬
selves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord cometh as a thief in the night.
3 When they are saying, Peace and
safety, then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman
473
I THESSALONIANS
Vcr. 2. ‘‘the day of the Lord”, —This is not a day of twenty-four
hours. It refers to a period of time commencing at His coming but stretch
ing out beyond that through the time of the judgment. It is the day
mentioned by Joel and other prophets as the day of judgment, and must
not be thought of in any sense as the day of the destruction of Jerusalem
(Ham. Har. Scho.), nor the day of each man’s death (Chr. Bio.). It
relates itself perhaps more nearly than any other time-end expression to
what is in reality the Parousia, which last word literally means “presence”.
(A. O. Lu. Rig.)
Riggenbach says, “The reference is, indeed, partly to particular, pre¬
liminary judgments, but more and more to the conclusive, final judgment.”
"The day of the Lord” in the Old Testament denotes a time when
God will manifest His punitive justice and also His goodness and power.
It is the day of His wrath on His enemies and of the deliverance of His
people. (Joel 1.15; 2.11; Ezek. 13.5; Isa. 2.12.)
“thief in the night” ,—The idea of suddenness and unexpectedness
is the prominent one in this expression. (O. E. A. Lu.)
The image is conceived from a secure state of worldly complacency
on which the advent of Christ comes like the unexpected thief into the
well-guarded house, plundering the members of the house of their pos¬
sessions and of that to which their hearts cling.
“cometh ”,—This is not used instead of a future (FI. Vor. Kop.
Pelt.), but it is the present expressing, as is so often the case, the absolute
certainty and truth of that which is predicated.
Ver. 3. “ they”, —i. e., men in general,—the people of the world as
opposed to the people of God.
“peace and safety”, —The one word refers to inward repose and the
other to a secureness not interfered with by outward opposition.
“as travail upon a woman” ,—The point of comparison is the sudden
and inevitable occurrence of the rending pain.
Alford is right when he says that De Wette, followed by Lunneman,
presses the comparison too closely when he says that it “assumes the day
to be near—for that such a woman, though she does not know the day or
the hour, yet has a definite knowledge of the period.” It is not the woman
nor her condition that is the subject of comparison, but the suddenness
and unexpectedness of the pang that comes upon her.
Ver. 4. “not in darkness”, —This expression refers to the ruined
condition of the unbelieving world that knows not God and is expressive
of its ignorance and moral slumber.
“that”, —It seems as though this must be taken in the sense of “in
order that” as referring to the purpose or design of God. (A. E. Lu. Fri.)
Lunneman perhaps best interprets the thought for us, “Ye are not in
darkness, and thus the design which God has in view in reference to those
who are in darkness, namely, to surprise them by the day of the Lord, can
have no application to you.”
Olshausen says that this interpretation, “in order that”, as expressing
design, does great violence to the sentence. Accordingly many join
474
I THESSALONIANS
Olshauscn in translating "so that" as expressive of result. (D. Ba. W-W.
FI. Rig. Hof. Bis. Jow. Pelt.)
The idea of result does better suit the thought, but it is hard to get
that meaning out of the particle used. This is, however, given in Thayer’s
Lexicon as a third meaning of the particle,—"with the issue that". But
Winer seems to have rather conclusively shown that this meaning cannot
attach to any New Testament use of the particle, and Thayer says that
wherever the interpretation "in order that" can be taken, it ought by all
means to be so taken.
“that day”, —Here, of course, is meant the day of the Lord, but it is
called merely “the day 1 as the time of light breaking in on darkness.
Ver. 5. “sons of light and sons of day*, —The “day” is a strength¬
ening synonym for “light” and is that in which we have our origin and
our specific nature.
Ver. 6. “the rest”, —i. e., the unbelievers.
23 And the God of peace himself
sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be preserved
entire, without blame at the 'coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
J Gr. -presence
Ver. 23. The BELIEVER PRESENTED IN PERFECT HOLINESS BEFORE
the Lord at His Coming.
“sanctify you wholly”, —In view of what follows it is best to take
this in a quantitative sense, as referring to the whole personality, viz., in
your entire extent, through and through. (A. E. O. D. W-W. Lu.)
There are those who take it in an ethical sense, “so that ye be pure
and blameless”, (Jer. Lut. Kop. Pelt.) But this qualitative sense is
fully enough expressed in the words “without blame”.
“may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire ”,—The Re¬
vised Version we feel has interfered somewhat with the real thought of the
passage by transferring the word “entire” to the place it now occupies in
the text. The word is an adjective and modifies all three of the words,
spirit, soul and body, although being placed in the Greek just before the
word “spirit” it takes its gender from that noun. The word “entire”
means consisting of all its parts. The words “wholly” and “entire” seem
to be one the synonymy of the other and refer to that which is perfect, not
in the ethical sense so much, but spoken of things to which nothing be¬
longing to their nature is wanting, i. e., quantitatively.
“spirit and soul and body”, —The Apostle seems here to teach the
three-fold division of human nature, the spirit being the highest and dis¬
tinctive part of man, the immortal and responsible part, while the soul
is the lower or animal part containing the passions and desires.
“without blame”, —In a word Paul prays that the whole personality,
each part in its entirety, may be preserved so that it will be found blame¬
less in the day of His coming.
“coming” ,—The word is as usual, Parousia, meaning, literally, pres¬
ence, and the verse as a whole sets forth the blessed truth that this is the
time when the believer is to be presented in perfect holiness before his Lord
and Saviour.
475
II THESSALONIANS
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE
THESSALONIANS
(A. D. 54)
CHAPTER ONE
of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the
angels of his power in flaming fire, 8
rendering vengeance to them that know
not God, and to them that obey not the
"gospel of our Lord Jesus: 9 who shall
suffer punishment, even eternal destruc¬
tion from the face of the Lord and from
the glory of his might, 10 when he
shall come to be glorified in his saints,
and to be marvelled at in all them that
believed (because our testimony unto
you was believed) in that day.
'Or. good tidings', and so elsewhere. See
marginal note on Ml. 4.23.
Vers. 4-10. The PERSECUTED BELIEVER’S REST AT THE REVELATION
of Christ.
Ver. 5. “which is a manifest token’ \—The word denotes a sign, a
guarantee, a proof. It is to be taken as referring to all of verse 4 begin¬
ning with “for your patience ”, etc. (A. D. E. Lu. Fri. Lil.), and not to
the subject of " endure ”, i. e., the Thessalonians (Es. Era.), nor to “all
your persecutions and tribulations’ . (C. Zw. Ew. Bui. Are. Wol. Kop.
Bis. Pelt.)
“the righteous judgment”, —Alford says, “The judgment which will
be completed at the Lord’s coming, but is even now preparing, this being
an earnest and token of it.”
The majority of expositors agree with Alford in this, referring the
judgment especially to that which will take place at the coming of Christ.
(C. D. E. Lu. Lut. Hof. Dod. Pelt.) The use of the definite article “the”
and more especially the following verse seem to favor this interpretation.
The unjust sufferings of the righteous show that justice is not meted out
sometimes as it should be here and that therefore there comes the demand
for a future judgment.
Riggenbach and Olshausen strongly contend against this view and
maintain that the righteous judgments of God were those which the Thes¬
salonians were then suffering on earth, the end of which or the purpose of
which is that they might be counted worthy, etc. Olshausen asks, “How
can the present patiently endured suffering for the sake of the kingdom of
God be a sign or an evidence of the future righteous judgment of God?”
This view of course represents their present afflictions and persecutions as
the righteous judgment of God upon them, merited because of their sin,
but endured for their perfection and being made worthy of God’s kingdom.
If it were not for the following context Olshausen's view would be
the preferable one. But in view of what follows, their present sufferings
may be taken as a proof of the coming judgment upon their adversaries
4 so that wc ourselves glory in you
in the churches of God for your 'patience
and faith in all your persecutions and in
the afflictions which ye endure; 5 which
is a manifest token of the righteous
judgment of God; to the end that ye
may be counted worthy of the kingdom
of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 if
so be that it is a righteous thing with
God to recompense affliction to them
that afflict you, 7 and to you that are
afflicted rest with us, at the revelation
’Or, s/i'djustness
476
II THESSALONIANS
and the adversaries of God, because it made it obvious that in this world
men do not receive their just deserts and therefore a future judgment is
demanded for the sake of justice.
Ellicott says, "To refer ‘righteous judgment’ solely to present suffer¬
ings, as perfecting and preparing the Thessalonians for future glory (O.)
is to miss the whole point of the sentence. The Apostle’s argument is
that their endurance of suffering in faith is a token of God’s righteous
judgment and of a future reward, which will display itself in rewarding
the patient sufferers, as surely as it will inflict punishment on their perse¬
cutors."
There is no good reason why both views should not be combined
after the manner of Alford and Fausset.
“to the end that”, —This depends on “righteous judgment” (A. D.
E. Lu. Ew. Rig.), and not on " endure” (B. Es. Za. Bis. Hof.). It
means "the result of which judgment will be" (E. Lu.), rather than "the
purpose of which judgment shall be" (A. D. Ew.Rig.). God's righteous
judgment, the proof and demand for which is seen in their patient endur¬
ance of affliction, will result in their being esteemed worthy of the kingdom
in the day of the Lord's coming.
“the kingdom of God”, —This, says Olshausen, is the kingdom to be
established at Christ's coming, expected then as quite near at hand. (Lu.
Bla.) Riggenbach says, "The kingdom of God here mentioned is the
holy dominion, which shall one day be revealed by the return of the King
in victorious glory." He says, however, that this is a kingdom which
flesh and blood cannot inherit.
“for which ye also suffer”, —Not as purchasing the kingdom by suf¬
fering as meritorious, but they suffer for the kingdom’s sake.
Ver. 6. “if so be that”, —This does not express doubt, but is put
hypothetically for the very purpose of strengthening its import, and to
indicate that it is altogether incontestable, the writer appealing to the
reader’s own judgment.
“it is a righteous thing” ,—This points back to the righteous judg¬
ment of verse 5.
Ver. 7. “rest ”,—Liberation from earthly affliction is one of the
glories of the kingdom.
“with us”, —i. e., with Paul and his companions who were in like
manner being persecuted; and not with Christians generally (D. Tur.),
for all Christians were not being persecuted, which is the case as implied in
our verse; nor with us, the saints of Israel (B. Ew. Mac.), seeing that the
Thessalonians were Gentiles.
“at the revelation” —Riggenbach says, "The same thing as Parousia,
only it conveys more than His presence; He will be unveiled in His glory."
The word is "apocalypsis".
“angels of His power”, —Not "mighty angels" (FI. Pis. Oec. Ben.
Theo.) The power is Christ’s; His angels are His servants and the instru¬
mentality through which He manifests His power. They are the executors
of His power.
Some translate "with His angelic host" (Mi. Hof. Dru. Kop.). But
the Greek word for “power” is never translated in the sense of "host" or
477
II THESSALONIANS
“army"; besides this translation would require the words " angels” and
“power” to exchange places.
“in Rawing fire”, —The natural symbol of perfect purity and unap¬
proachable majesty. This is to be taken as a further specification of the
mode of His revelation. (A. E. Lu. Rig.) In the Old Testament God is
described as appearing in flames of fire and especially is His coming to
judgment described as a coming in fire. Here the description is referred to
Christ. The words are not therefore to be connected with what follows
as the instruments of His taking vengeance. (Es. Lap. Har. Mac. Hil. Hof.
Schm. Mold.)
Ver. 8. “rendering vengeance”, —i. e., distributing it as their
portion.
The rest of this verse is taken by Olshausen and others as referring
to unbelievers in general who were criminally ignorant of God and who
obeyed not His Gospel that was preached unto them. (O. C. D. Rig. Tur.
Hem. Pelt. Schot.) But the repetition of “to them” usually compels to
the distinction of two different classes and so many others take the first
as referring to the Gentiles and the second to unbelieving Jews. (B. E.
A. Ba. Ew. Bis. Kop. Ben. Gro.)
The fact that the Gentiles are in a number of places elsewhere called
by Paul, “those who know not God”, and that disobedience was the char¬
acteristic of the theocratic nation of the Jews, together with the repetition
of the “to them” inclines us to the latter view.
Ver. 9. “eternal destruction”, —"A testimony this", says Ellicott,
"to the eternity of future punishment that is not easy to be explained
away."
“from” and “from”, —Three explanations:
1. To be taken in a local sense, i. e., separation from. This is by
far the best explanation and is approved by the majority of schol¬
ars. (A. E. Lu. Rig. Bis. Kop. Bio. Pic.- Bez. Cali. Schot.)
2. To be taken in the sense of time,—immediately upon the appear¬
ance of His face and His glory, describing thereby the swiftness
and facility of the punishment; Christ has but to appear. (Va.
Es. Oec. Chr. Era. From. Theo.) But this is a very artificial
interpretation.
3. To be taken in the sense of cause. (Ca. Kop. Bol. Pelt.) ; some
taking “from the face of the Lord” arbitrarily as “from the Lord";
and others with equal arbitrariness understanding the word “face”
as of a wrathful countenance. But this would make the verse a
mere repetition of verses 7 and 8.
De Wette objects to the first view on account of the word “might”.
This word at first glance might seem to favor the second view; but it may
be taken as a genitive of origin.
The meaning is "from the glory which is a creation (visible—local¬
ized result,—A.) of his might." (Lu.)
Alford and Lunneman understand this glory as that imparted to
believers, and not as Christ’s own glory. But this is a bit far-fetched;
the parallelism leads us rather to think of something belonging to the
478
II THESSALONIANS
Lord, although it may extend in reference here to the believers as well who
are at that time to be glorified.
Ver. 10. "saints", —Not angels (Mac. Schr.), but Christians, glori¬
fied believers.
"in", —Not “through", as many render; nor “among", but
9 4 * ) *
in
p
the element in which, so that the glorification of His saints becomes a glori¬
fication of Christ Himself—as the sun in reflected in a mirror—as a teacher
is glorified in her scholars. Dods says, “The saints are the risen and glori¬
fied companies of believers."
Olshausen says, “It is not stated here that Christ comes with His
saints, as it was said in verse 7 that He comes with the angels, but accord¬
ing to I Thess. 4.17 (their gathering together with Him), this must here
to be necessarily assumed."
"to be marveled at in all them that believed" ,—This may mean that
in the hearts of His believers there is an admiring adoration, but in view
of the apparent parallelism between the two members, it is better to take
it that Christ will be admired or wondered at because of those who have
believed on Him. Lunneman says, “The blessedness of believers being
admired, Christ also is therein admired as the Author of that blessedness."
If Christ is the object of this admiration, who is the subject? Some
think it is those who are now stiff-necked. But it is best, however, to
take it in a universal sense of all creation, even of the angels as well as of
men believing and unbelieving, the wonder and admiration of the glorified
increasing, while the unbelievers are at least amazed at such a person.
"because . . . believed", —A parenthetical statement designed to bring
forward the certainty that also the Thessalonians belonged to the believers.
"in that day", —To be connected with “ glorified" and "marveled
at" (A. Lu. Rig.) ; not with "believed" (Gro. Syr.), taking this last word
in the future sense. The verb is an aorist and the aorist can never be taken
in the sense of a future. Nor is it to be connected with "testimony" (Es.
FI. Ba. Ros. Kop.), nor with the too remote "shall come" (B. O. Zeg.
Pelt.).
There is another of Dr. Brown’s proof texts against pre-millennial-
ism. He says the expression "all that believed " must include all that ever
have believed or ever shall believe on Christ to all eternity, and that hence
at His coming, when all such admire Him, it is plain that the number of the
elect must be complete, and that therefore no more can be saved after the
Parousia takes place. But, however the case may be presented elsewhere,
Dr. Brown’s position can hardly be said to be clearly established by the
passage before us. Kellogg replies as follows;
1. When Moses delivered Israel from Egypt he saved all that believed
on him. Does that prove that none could have believed on Moses
after that? Will any say that Christ could not be said to be
admired by all believers at His coming, if any believed on Him
after His coming?
2. What proof is there that in this place the word "all" must thus
include all that could possibly be put into it? That this word
is not thus used in every case is so certain as not to be denied by
anyone. The same principle which Dr. Brown assumes here,
479
II THESSALONIANS
carried elsewhere would prove from Rom. 5.18 the universal sal¬
vation of all men. and from Col. 1.20 even the salvation of the
Devil and all his angels. The mere use of the word “all” proves
very little. That in any particular case it has the broadest sense
possible always needs to be proved. That it has such a sense here
no evidence is offered.
3. But when we look at the Greek text of the passage we find that
the evidence is on the other side; for the particle which is rendered
in the Authorized Version, “them that believe”, is in the past
tense, so that the word “all” is thereby strictly limited to all those
who have believed before the Advent. The New Testament
revisers have accordingly rendered the participle in the past, “them
that believed ”. The sense of the words, then, is simply that all
who up to the time of the Advent shall have believed on Jesus will
then admire Him. As to whether, after the Advent, others shall
be saved or not, the words teach absolutely nothing. They are
equally consistent with either supposition.
CHAPTER TWO
1 Now we beseech you, brethren,
touching the 'coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and our gathering together unto
him; 2 to the end that ye be not
quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet
be troubled, either by spirit, or by word,
or by epistle as from us, as that the
day of the Lord is just at hend; 3 let
no man beguile you in any wise: for
it will not be, except the falling away
come first, and the man of 3 sin be re¬
vealed, the son of perdition, 4 he that
opposeth and exalteth himself against all
that is called God or *that is wor¬
shipped; so that he sitteth in the “temple
of God, setting himself forth as God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was
yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know that which re¬
strained. to the end that he may be
revealed in his own season. 7 for
the mystery of lawlessness doth already
work: “only there is one that restrained
’(Jr. in behalf of
•Or. -presence
3 Many ancient authorities read lawlessness
4 Gr. an object of worship. Acts 17.23.
3 Or, sanctuary
c Or, only until he that now resfraineth be
taken &*c.
now, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless
one, whom the Lord ‘Jesus shall “slay
with the breath of his mouth, and bring
to nought by the manifestation of his
'coming; 9 even he, whose ‘‘coming is
according to the working of Satan with
all 9 power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteous¬
ness for them that U1 perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. 1 1 And for this
cause God sendeth them a working of
error, that they should believe a lie:
12 that they all might be judged who
believed not the truth, but had pleas¬
ure in unrighteousness.
1 3 But we are bound to give thanks
to God always for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, for that God chose you
n from the beginning unto salvation in
sanctification of the Spirit and 12 belief.
7 Some ancient authorities omit Jesus
•'“Some ancient authorities read consume
: ‘(,r. power ami signs and wonders of false¬
hood
"'Or, are perishing
1! Many ancient authorities read as frstfruits
1:! Or, faith
Vers. 1-13. Thh Day of the Lord and the Man of Sin.
Ver. 1. “touching ”,—This translation hardly expresses what the
preposition contains. Many take it as a form of adjuration, “by”, but
this meaning the preposition never has in the New Testament.
It is more correctly taken in the sense of “in respect to”. (D. FI. Ba.
Ew. Zeg. Vor. Gro. Ham. Wol. Noe. Kop. Hey. Win. Wie. Bio. Rig.
Pelt. Schot.)
480
II THESSALONIANS
However this is not quite the thought. There seems to be a touch
of concern about the event as though he would guard it from misrepresen¬
tation, and perhaps it is best to translate with the margin of the text, “on
behalf of". (A. E. Lu. Er.)
"coming”, —Parousia, presence.
“our gathering unto him”, — (See I Thess. 4.17).
Ver. 2. "to the end that”, —The aim and object of "beseech”.
"shaken from your mind”, — "mind” is to be taken quite generally,
your mental apprehension of the subject (A. E. Lu.), and not as “your
former more correct sentiment on the subject as received through personal
instruction by the Apostle". (FI. Os. Es. Hem. Bui. Pis. Lap. Gro. Hey.
From. Mold.)
"shaken”, —Used especially of a sea agitated by a storm.
"quickly”, —i. e., soon and without due consideration. This mean¬
ing, doubless, soon after the instruction received by them from the Apostle
(O. Ca. Pis.), though some take it, soon after my departure (Lan.), soon
as ever the matter is spoken of at any time. (A. Lu. Dod.)
"either by spirit”, —i. e., prophetical discourses by members of the
Church and falsely given out as divine revelation. (A. O. Lu. Rig. Dod.)
(See I Thess. 5.20.) Not a dream (Schr.), nor deceitful revelations by
spiritual appearances (Schm.), nor falsely understood prophecies of the
Old Testament (Krause).
"as from us”, —i. e., pretending to be from us when in reality it is
spurious.
Since all three words are governed by the same word, "by”, some say
"as from us” must modify all three of them, or the last one only. (C. Ew.
Zw. Rig. Hof. Chr. Theo.) Grammatically this appears to be true. But
since it cannot modify the first word, "spirit”, inasmuch as a prophetic
discourse of the Apostle could not be invented, it being necessary for the
Apostle's presence for such an utterance, the above authorities have confined
"as from us” to the last word only, "letter”, and they take "word”, not a s
some sayings of Paul hawked around, but as a teaching that reasoned per¬
haps from the Scriptures and not from prophetic rapture as was the case
in connection with the first word, "spirit” . Others, however, refer "as
from us” to the last two words as closely connected, showing that someone
carried around a pretended oral utterance, while others did even the same
with a spurious letter. (E. A. D. Lu. Gro. Wet. Theo.)
"word” therefore means either “teaching" in accordance with the first
view noted, or it means an oral statement attributed to Paul if the second
view is followed. We incline hesitatingly to this second view.
By "word” is not meant therefore a traditional falsified word of Jesus
(Ba.), nor the prophecy of Jesus in Matt. 24, Mk. 1 3, Lu. 21 (Noe.) , nor
"reckoning”, with reference to Daniel's week of years. (Mi. Ty.)
"epistle”, —It is a bit difficult to know whether Paul was simply
referring to the possibility of such a letter being circulated (Jow.), or
whether he means to say that such a letter was actually in circulation (A.
Lu.), or whether he refers to his first epistle. (BI. Hil. Bez. Ham. Reu.)
481
II THESSALONIANS
1. The phrase "as from us" may intelligibly be made to mean, "Be
not troubled by letter as if I had said," i. e., do not understand
my former letter to have taught, etc.
2. It seems natural that in this his second epistle, which might seem
to contradict what he had said in his first one, that he would draw
attention (Chap. 3.15) to his signature as evidence that both
epistles were from him.
3. If a forged letter had existed it is probable that he would have
dealt more severely with it.
4. It is a bit improbable that while Paul was within so easy reach,
so daring a forgery would have taken place, and a forgery so
profitless.
5. Dods says that if Paul had meant a forged letter he would have
doubtless used another preposition more distinctly expressing the
source from which the thing eminates.
However, all this does not establish the case for a reference to a first
epistle, and as between the possibility of such a fraud and the actuality of
it, it is safer to decide for the latter, as more in keeping with the expression
as used by the Apostle.
"day of the Lord", —Preponderating authority is against the reading
of the Authorized Version, "day of Christ".
♦ I 9
ing
"just at hand", —The word means "just on the point of commenc-
(A-R-V) ; "immediately imminent" (Dod.), or "already present"
(R-V) ; "is now present" (A. Er. Tor. Bla. Rig.)* "has really come"
(Lil.), "is now come" (E.).
Alford says, and rightly, "Paul could not have written as in the
Authorized Version, 'at hand', because he and all other New Testament
writers had been writing all along that the day of the Lord was at hand,
but they had never said it was just on the point of comtng or was even then
present."
Dr. Brown makes strong use of this passage to prove that the Millen¬
nium was still in Paul's mind many centuries removed. But the Parousia
of Christ (which others believe is to usher in the Millennium) could still be
"at hand" and yet be a year or many years away; in other words, "at hand "
is not indicative of nearness as the verb here used implies. The Thessa-
lonians apparently either thought He had already come and that their rap
ture (I Thess. 4.17) had not taken place, or that He was just on the point
of coming any minute, hour or day.
Riggenbach says, "The emphatic position of the verb at the front
shows that the Apostle does not intend generally to put far away the
expectation of the last day; they were merely not to let themselves be sur¬
prised by the cry, ‘Here it is now!' The verb denotes a standing at the
door, immediate presence."
The verb occurs in six other places in the New Testament and Alford
says always in the sense of "being present". (Rom. 8.38; I Cor. 3.22,
7.26; Gal. 1.4; II Tim. 3.1; Heb. 9.9.)
Says Alford, "They imagined the day to be already come, and accord¬
ingly were deserting their pursuits of life, and falling into other irregu¬
larities, as if the day of grace were closed."
482
II THESSALONIANS
Blackstone says, “The persecuted Thessalonians thought that they
were in the Tribulation period, and that the Day of the Lord had set in.
But Paul corrects them, first by reminding them that the Lord had not
come for them as yet, as He had said that He would (I Thess. 4.15-17),
and then by adding certain other things which must occur before the Day
of the Lord should come."
Morgan says, "The people of Thessalonica misinterpreted Paul's first
epistle, thinking that the day of Christ had come because they were in
tribulation. Paul therefore wrote a second letter wherein he corrected this
error, showing how that day must be preceded by certain signs, and the
Church waiting for her Lord, will not pass through the tribulation, but
will be taken from the earth before it comes. In the opening verse of
Chap. 2 there is a wonderfully clear and concise distinction between the
‘coming’ and the ' day’ of Christ. Before ' that day’ dawns, the final
apostacy (the definite article is very distinct) is to be inaugurated by the
revealing of the man of sin—not a system, but an individual."
Torrey says, "The Thessalonians were troubled by the teaching that
had arisen among them that the day of the Lord was already present and
that they were in the midst of the judgment, ' the day of the Lord They
were greatly excited and perturbed by the fact. Paul shows them that this
could not be because the f man of sin’, who was to be especially dealt with
in ' the day of the Lord had not yet been revealed. The ‘day of the Lord’
is not the coming of Christ to receive His Church, but that which follows
upon it. It is the time of the Lord’s coming to the earth."
C. H. Mackintosh says, "The Christians at Thessalonica were passing
through intense persecution and tribulation, and it is evident that false
teachers had been disturbing their minds by leading them to think that
they were even then surrounded by the terrors of the day of the Lord, that
it was already present. He beseeches them, first, on the ground of the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the rapture (verse 1) not to so think,
thus drawing a clear distinction between the coming at the time of the
rapture of the saints and the ‘day of the Lord’. And then further he
reminds them that ‘that day’, i. e., the day of the Lord, shall not come
except there be first a falling away from the faith and the revelation of the
man of sin."
Kellogg says, "What troubled the Thessalonians was not the possible
imminence of the Advent, which could only have filled them with gladness,
but what had been suggested by some false teachers, who taught—like
some in our own time—that the ' day of the Lord’ was ‘now present’, and
had brought with it no personal return of the Lord, and no resurrection
of those whom they had laid to sleep in Jesus."
Dods says, "The expression, ‘shaken out of your mind’, implies that
wild spiritual excitement prevailed among the Thessalonians; that they
were really acting as people who had lost their senses, giving up perhaps
their ordinary occupations and scandalizing sober-minded people."
But no wonder, if they thought that the “day of the Lord " had really
come, and that the events of I Thess. 4.15-17 had not taken place.
But let us examine the matter a bit more carefully. It is not so easy
to think that the Thessalonians believed the day of the Lord had already
come; because they knew that no rapture had taken place, no gathering
483
II THESSALONIANS
together unto the Lord in the air (not even of Paul himself), no resurrec¬
tion of “the dead in Christ”, no appearance of their Lord, as they had been
taught in the first epistle of Paul, to them would take place (I Thess. 4.15-
1 7). Then again if they had so thought, would not Paul have reminded
them most clearly and emphatically that they were mistaken, by the very
fact that these things had not taken place, and then have added, as another
reason why their actions were unwarranted, the fact that there must first
come the apostacy and the revelation of the man of sin? But instead of
this Paul emphasized only the latter reason, telling them that the apostacy
and the revelation of the man of sin had first to take place prior to the
time to which reference is had in the passage.
Now we are not so sure that the Thessalonians or other Christians of
their day knew of the distinction, much emphasized in our day by certain
teachers concerning the end-occurrences, between the “ coming of Christ''
and “the day of the Lord” or His revelation, at least in the sense that the
latter occurred some time after the former, a period, as some believe, of
seven years intervening.
Campbell Morgan says this distinction was made '‘very distinct” as
between the last verses of the fourth chapter and the first verse of the fifth
chapter of First Thessalonians. But certainly this noted expositor s
vision must be exceedingly keen to gather with such emphatic assurance
this knowledge from the passages in question.
Even C. H. Mackintosh, one of the staunchest champions of this
school of interpretation, says, “They knew that Jesus was to return; but
as for any distinction between His coming for His people and His coming
with them at a later time, between His coming and the day of the Lord,
they were, at the first, ( i. e., until Paul made it plain in the verses to
which Morgan refers) they were wholly ignorant."
At any event the distinction is not well drawn. Does not the “day
of the Lord” begin at the same moment with the coming of Christ for His
people (if not before) ?
Even Morgan says, “The day of the Lord is, in one sense, begun by
His coming; but it is a whole period which stretches out beyond that
coming, the Millennium itself being included in that phrase.”
So also W. J. Erdman, a strong pre-millennarian, who says, “The
rapture is the opening event of the day of the Lord."
And most certainly the Thessalonians thought of the day of the Lord
in this sense, and not as something to take place a number of years later bv
a single event, when Christ was to come back with His risen and glorified
saints, because it was doubtless the persecution and suffering through which
they were going that led them to believe that the day of the Lord was either
present or just breaking upon them.
If therefore this time distinction is to be conceded it should be made,
not between the “corning of Christ” and the “day of the Lord , but be¬
tween the “coming of Christ” and “the revelation of Christ with the day
of the Lord” between the two and stretching on out past the “day ot
Christ’s revelation”, including, if you wish, the Millennium, even as Mor¬
gan maintains.
Now it would seem that it was in the sense just set forth that Paul
thought of “the day of the Lord”, viz., as beginning immediately after
484
II THESSALONIANS
the coming of Christ, if not before, but at least not as beginning seven
years or any number of years after that coming. This seems apparent
because it was the matter of the persecution and suffering of the Thessa-
lonians that became the moving cause of his admonitions to them.
Now we have further to state that so far as the expression,"shaken
from your mind”, is concerned, it denotes, as Olshausen has rightly said,
“all violent passions of joy, grief or fear". Lunneman has likewise said,
“This effect might be produced both on those who regarded the advent
with longing desire and on those who regarded it with fear."
Now, for the reasons already given, we repeat it is difficult to think
of the Thessalonians as imagining that the time had passed for the rapture
and the resurrection, and that they were in the “ day of the Lord” which
was to follow immediately thereafter. If this be the case, then their state
of mind was indeed one of fear and overwhelming despondency. But if,
on the other hand, because of the persecution and trial that was beginning
to gather so hard about them, they thought the coming of Christ was just
about to take place, then their state of mind would naturally be one of great
joy and extravagant excitement due, as Ellicott says, “to wild spiritual
anticipations", in which they may well be pictured as forsaking their daily
vocations and dissipating their property because of the happy prospect of
the coming rapture and departure from the earth to meet the coming Lord.
It is to this latter view we find ourselves inclined, and for this reason prefer
the reading of our text, “as that the day of the Lord is just at hand”.
W. J. Erdman even identifies the expression, ”the day of the Lord”,
with the “ coming of our Lord Jesus Christ , and our gathering together
unto Him” of verse I. He says, “The Apostle beseeches the saints touch¬
ing (Gr., in behalf of) this very coming (Parousia) of the Lord to gather
them together into His presence, not to be troubled or shaken from the
teaching they had received from him; and he beseeches them concerning
this coming and gathering together as something that has not taken place
and cannot take place before the ' man of sin has been revealed."
Now it would seem from this that in either case the Apostle puts the
“ apostacy” and the “revealing of the man of sin” before the coming of
Christ for His saints, and if this be true, just because this revelation of the
man of sin must be thought of as during the day of the Lord, the supposed
period of time between “the coming of Christ” and “the revelation of
Christ” vanishes altogether, or shrinks, as it were, into a mere point of
time, thus bringing the two events together and throwing the period, “the
day of the Lord” , before them both, and this again would mean that the
Church will go through the “day of the Lord” , which is the same with the
“time of great tribulation”.
Thus W. J. Erdman, “The Church throughout the world will be
contemporary with the 'man of sin' and in the 'great tribulation'. The
man of sin is the author of the great tribulation; the Day of the Lord (he
means what we have designated as the revelation of Christ) in which he
meets his doom, comes after the great tribulation; the Church is delivered
at the opening of that day from the wrath which overtakes him; therefore
the Church must have been contemporary with him and in the great tribu¬
lation.”
We therefore see no reason thus far in the Apostle’s teaching to con¬
sider the day, the coming, the appearing, the manifestation and the
485
II THESSALONIANS
revelation of Christ other than one so far as the time element enters into
their conception.
And thus Dwight, with many others, “The question whether the
Apostle thought of the Parousia as probably to take place within twenty
or thirty years or not, must be determined so far as this passage is con¬
cerned, by the length of time which must be allowed for the occurrence of
what he declares is to take place before the day of the Lord/'
Ver. 3. “beguile ",—This is better than “deceive" of the Author¬
ized Version because the word does not precisely carry the idea of deceit
from an evil intention. “Befool" is a good rendering.
“in any wise", —Neither by any of the three ways mentioned, nor
by any other way.
“for .... ",—There is an elipsis here, but it is not necessary to think
of the Apostle intending to fill it out but forgetting it after the lengthy
description which follows (Lu.), but the elipsis supplies itself readily in
the reader’s mind, as in either the rendering of our text or that of the
Authorized Version.
Two things must precede that day, the apostacy and the revelation of
the man of sin.
“falling away", —Apostacy. This is preceded by the definite article
“the", and therefore refers to the apostacy as well known to the Thessa-
lonians, either through the oral instruction of the Apostle (verse 5), or
through the Old Testament prophecies, or the prophecy of Jesus in Matt.
24.10-12.
It must be taken in the sense of a religious apostacy and not in a
political or semi-political sense. This is made certain by the relation of
Antichrist to it, by the description of it in verse 7 and by the constant
Biblical usage.
“man of sin ",—Not the cause of the apostacy (D. Pelt., appealing to
verses 9 and 10), but the historical completion and climax of it. (A. Lu.)
“revealed", —As Christ in His time, so Antichrist in his time is to be
revealed.
“the son of perdition", —The primary meaning is that perdition is
his inheritance (A.) ; he falls a prey to perdition (Lu. Rig.), and not that
he is the cause of perdition to others (Pelt) ; although we see no good
reason for not including the latter in the former, as do many (O. H:y
Oec. The. Schot.). Olshausen aptly says, “He not merely has sin and
falls into destruction, but that sin and destruction proceeds from him as
their source and he drags every one else into sin and destruction after him.“
The article “the" before “man of sin" only admits of the reference to
a definite, known personality.
Olshausen says, “The name ' man characterizes him at the same time
as a real man with body and soul, whom Satan, the princ ple of evil, thus
makes his dwelling, as the Son of God united Himself with the man Jesus."
Zwingli and a few others take the word collectively as denoting every
bad man altogether fallen under the power of sin, but the article forbids
this and the following description shows plainly that a single personality
is in Paul’s mind.
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II THESSALONIANS
Ellicott says, “Even as Christ is now spiritually present in His
Church, to be personally revealed more gloriously hereafter, even so the
power of Antichrist is now secretly at work, but will hereafter be made
manifest in a definite and distinctive bodily personality."
The man of sin means the one who wholly belongs to sin (Rig.), in
whom sin predominates, the genitive of predominating quality (E.), in
whom sin is the principle matter (Lu.), in whom sin is personified as
righteousness is in Christ (A.).
That by “the man of sin ", the Apostle means the Antichrist is shown;
(a) By the connection with apostacy.
(b) By the genitive "anomias", verse 7.
(c) By the words, “son of perdition ".
(d) By the words, “he that opposeth ", etc.
(e) By his sitting in the temple of God.
(f) By the connection of his coming with the working of Satan.
(g) By the application to him of the words “Parousia" and other
words which are used of Christ’s coming.
(h) By the contrast of the deceit of unrighteousness with the truth.
The Antichrist is not the Devil himself because he is distinguished
from the Devil in verse 9. He is, according to verse 9, the instrument of
the Devil.
Ver. 4. “he that opposeth" ,—Whom does he oppose. Not the
human race (Mi. Ba.) ( but God (see immediately following) and more
especially Christ, as the entire context shows. (A. Lu. Hey. Schot.) He is
the Antichrist (I John 2.18), the antagonist, the adversary and caricature
of Christ.
“against all that is called God" ,—Not only against the true God but
against heathen gods as well. He treads all religion under his feet. He
does not promote idolatry, but seduces men from the true God and from
all idols as well, and sets himself up as the only object of adoration. He
wants to be the only god and suffers none else beside himself.
"Compare", says Alford, "the close parallel in Dan. 1 1.36,37."
Says Ellicott, "This characteristic of impious exaltation is in such
striking parallelism with that ascribed by Daniel to ' the king that shall do
according to his will (Dan. 11.36), that we can scarcely doubt that the
ancient interpreters were right in referring both to the same person—*
Antichrist. The former portion of the prophecy in Daniel is apparently
correctly referred to Antiochus Epiphanes, but the concluding verses (verse
36, etc.) seem only applicable to him of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was
merely a type and a shadow."
Riggenbach says, "The Apostle’s brief picture reminds us of Dan.
7.8,11.20, etc. The modern interpreters see in this for the most part
Antiochus Epiphanes; more correctly we shall recognize in this little horn
of the 7th Chap, the yet future adversary of whom Antiochus Epiphanes,
described in similar terms, was but a type."
“that is worshipped" ,—A generalization of the idea God—whatever
else is an object of divine adoration.
“he sitteth in the temple of God ",—Because of the word “sitteth",
and the repetition of the article “the", many say the one definite temple
487
II THESSALONIANS
of the one definite God is meant, i. e., the temple at Jerusalem. (D. E. Lu.
Wh. Gro. Cle. Wie. and Scho.—with reserve). But the article is no
formidable reason for this view because the very same expression is used
elsewhere in a metaphorical sense, as all acknowledge. There is some
strength in the argument from the word " sitteth ”. It seems as though it
means a literal setting of one's self down. And the fact that the temple
no longer exists is not sufficient argument against it because some are ready
with an argument, not without some strength, that the temple is to be
rebuilt. For this reason Ellicott leans strongly to an ultimate fulfillment
in a future temple (Ezek. 37.26) at Jerusalem. However, the figurative
sense of holding a place of power, sitting as a ruler, is very frequently
found in connection with the same word, as for instance where our Lord
is said to “sit on the right hand of God”.
Inasmuch as this is true and Paul used the expression, “the temple of
God ” metaphorically in I Cor. 3.1 7 (See also I Cor. 6.1 6 and Eph. 2.21),
others have taken the expression in a metaphorical sense. We see no
reason why it should be interpreted with such rigid literality as that of
Lunneman and others. The passage will be satisfied if the homage due to
God is drawn aside to something human. The reference is said by Ols-
hausen and others to mean the Christian Church as such in all lands; and
indeed the Church is called the temple of God.
But what Paul does is, as Riggenbach says, "to depict an act, which
as a symbol of permanent spiritual significance, is confined to no locality,
and means to say: He places himself in God’s room and forces himself
on mankind as a Divine ruler. He portrays, indeed, an outward act that
connects itself with the temple; but this act is the expression of an abiding
disposition and purpose that is not confined to the one house of stone.
Who will see beforehand where or in what form of outward action it will
come to pass that the Man of Sin shall force himself on all the world as
God? The language of a prophet must be understood according to the
analogy of the prophets.”
This interpretation does not necessarily conflict with the literal one
and yet it both satisfies the prediction and relieves it of whatever embarrass¬
ment the literal interpretation might attach to it. If, however, it can be
shown that the temple is to be literally rebuilt in Jerusalem there can then
be no embarrassment in accepting the literal interpretation of our passage,
and it would seem that it ought under such circumstances to be so accepted.
“setting himself forth as God”,—Publicly predicating of himself
divine dignity and worthiness of adoration, and this perhaps not only in
word (D. O. Rig. Bis. Hey. Oec. Chr. Theo. Schot.), but by deceitful
miracles (verse 9).
Ver. 3. Inserted with a slight accent of surprise mingled with a tone
of reproach that they should have made so little of this previous oral in¬
struction. He was telling them nothing new apparently. Notice the
force of the “elegon”, “I was telling , / used to tell'\ It appears somewhat
as though he had repeatedly talked to them of the advent and the things
about which he was now writing.
Ver. 6. “now”, —There are four explanations of the connection:
1. A particle of transition to a new communication, i. e., “And now
—to pass to another point—ye know”, etc. They knew this
488
II THESSALONIANS
from Paul’s oral instruction and needed only to be reminded of it.
This is by far the most commendable view. (D. A. E. Lu. Ew.)
Other views are:
2. A temporal adverb in opposition to "yet” of verse 5, the present
time in contrast to the time Paul was with them, i. e., “I told you
orally that the Antichrist must come before the advent of Christ,
but now after my written declaration (verse 3) ye know that
the apostacy must come before the Antichrist." (B. FI. Hil.
Storr.) But this is not what the verse says. It says, "ye know
what restraineth” , and of this Paul had written nothing in verse 3,
for surely the apostacy is not the same as that which restraineth.
Even so, to have expressed this contrast would have taken a dif¬
ferent construction.
3. A temporal adverb modifying restraineth, i. e., "And ye know
that which now restraineth". (O. Wh. Ba. Hey. Wie. Bis. Mac.
Schr.) But with this we would have expected the word "now”
to have been placed immediately before "restraineth”.
4. A particle of time, i. e., "And now, when ye recall my oral instruc¬
tion, ye know", etc. (Rig ) Riggenbach says the oral instruc¬
tion would then have extended to an explanation also of that
which restraineth, and that this may account for the brevity with
which Paul mentions it here, having referred to it more fully in
his oral instruction.
"that which restraineth”, —i. e., hinders. Not what hinders me from
expressing myself freely about the Antichrist (Heinsius), nor the coming
of Christ (No.), but that which hinders the appearance of the Antichrist.
The expression is a neuter one and so denotes a power or a principle, while
the "one that restraineth” in verse 7 is a masculine and denotes a person.
At least, says Riggenbach, "this is apriore the most natural suggestion."
"his own season”, —i. e., the time appointed him by God.
Ver. 7. "mystery” ,—Made very emphatic by being placed first and
by being separated from its further definition "of lawlessness" by the verb
and the adverb.
"lawlessness” ,—i. e., ungodliness, wickedness in general. It cor¬
responds to the apostacy of verse 3. There are three views as to its gram¬
matical relation, each of which amount to the same thing. It is either:
1. A genitive of apposition—the mystery which consists in lawless¬
ness. (A. D. Lu.); or
2. A genitive of possession—the mystery which belongs to lawless¬
ness; or
3. A genitive of characterizing quality—the mystery which is char¬
acterized by lawlessness. (E.)
It refers to a concealed, mysterious wickedness—to lawlessness insofar
as it is still a mystery.
Olshausen goes beyond Scripture when he makes the expression equiv¬
alent to the Antichrist himself as an incarnation of Satan.
"doth already work', —i. e., in a yet hidden, mysterious way, which
perhaps many as yet did not recognize, but in it all, Paul sees the beginning
of tb* final rebellion against final grace.
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II THESSALONIANS
“only”, —This word must be connected with what follows. It can¬
not be connected with what precedes, either with “mystery” —only as a
hidden mystery (Wor.), or with “work” (Ky.), because this word is
defined by “already”.
The rendering of our text is certainly very awkward. It is better
to supply the verb, “will restrain”, as is done in the Authorized Version,
which certainly gives the proper sense to the verse. (B. Es. Wh. Zw. Os.
Vul. Syr. Era. Bez. Zeg. Bal. Lap. Cap. Lan. Sto. Cali. Pelt., et al.) The
Authorized Version, however, has an unhappy rendering of the verb
supplied. It is, however, perhaps better, especially from a grammatical
standpoint, to supply nothing, to conceive of “one that now restraineth”
being placed before “until” for the sake of emphasis, and to transfer in
thought “until” to its proper place immediately after “only”, and read.
"Only until he who now restraineth is taken out of the way”, i. e., "The
mystery of lawlessness doth already work, but only will it work in this
hidden, mysterious way until he who now restraineth is taken out of the
way.” (A. Rig. Lil. Ros. Hey. Noe. Schot.)
Some supply “there is”, as in our text, (W-W. Ba.), but this docs
not get rid of the troublesome “until” except in what is rather an awkward
way, although the sense is the same. All in all we prefer the marginal
reading of our text.
“be taken out of the way”, —The phrase is used of any person or
thing which is taken out of the way whether by violence or death or any
other way.
What the restraining power is and who the restraining one is (if this
distinction is allowed to stand) is the darkest point in the whole passage.
It will be discussed a little later.
Ver. 8. “the lawless one”, —The same as the Man of Sin—the
Antichrist.
“revealed”, —He will then throw off every veil, bringing himself
forth into the light. The same word (apocalypsis) is used of Christ.
“slay”, —i. e., destroy; consume.
“with the breath of his mouth”, —This is an expression denoting the
ease with which omnipotence accomplishes its object. It is not to be taken
in a sensuous way, as of a fiery wind; nor to be idealized so as to mean a
"word” or "shout of command”. It is a figure of speech. As Lunneman
says, "It describes the power and irresistible might of the reappearing
Christ, the breath of whose mouth is sufficient to destroy his opponents.”
(Compare Rev. 19.15,21, “a sharp sword out of His mouth”.) (Compare
also Isa. I 1.4, “with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked”.)
“bring to nought”, —i. e., overthrow; not as Olshausen says, "de¬
prive of influence” merely. (See Rev. 19.20.)
“manifestation of His coming”, —Coming is Parousia,—Greek.
“presence”. The Authorized Version rendering is rather thoroughly
backed up, since it is approved by many strong authorities. (Os. Wh.
Mus. Bui. Hem. Lap. Era. Cle. Tur. Ben. Mac. Kop. Bol. Hey. Wie. Schm.
Cali. Scho. Pelt. Schot., et al.)
It is better, however, to adhere to the original meaning of the words
and take them in the sense they are used elsewhere by Paul, and so even
490
II THESSALONIANS
preferable to our text is the rendering, “appearance of His coming”. The
mere advent of His presence (Lu.), the mere outburst of His presence (A.),
the first gleam of the advent (B.), is enough to bring the adversary to
nought.
Lillie remarks, “That there is an interval of time between our Lord’s
descent from the right hand of the Father into the region of the air, where
His gathered saints are admitted into His presence, and His coming ' with
them ' to the judgment of the nations, is not only in itself a perfectly
reasonable and scriptural idea, but one of use in harmonizing the various
and at first sight apparently discrepant descriptions of the manner of the
advent, and the condition of the world in that day." This is the first
remark of this kind we have found among the expositors.
Ver. 9. "whose coming", —Antichrist too has a Parousia (Gk.
presence).
"is", —The present as describing the certainty of the coming in the
future.
"according to the working of Satan ",—i. e., in conformity with it,
the Devil working in and through him. Satan gives him power even as
God gives power to Christ.
"with all power", etc., —It is better to read as in the margin, “with
all power and signs and wonders of falsehood". Both "all" and "false¬
hood" belong to all three nouns. They all have falsehood as their base,
essence and aim. (A. E. D. Lu. Ar.)
Is the reference to a deception of the senses by sham miracles, or real
miracles misleading to a false belief in them as if performd by divine power.
Riggenbach says that Augustine prefers the second explanation as most
others do. Roos says, “They are miracles of falsehood because men who
regard them as proofs of the divinity of the Antichrist are thereby miser¬
ably deceived." Riggenbach says, “Performed by dark, gloomy powers,
they are at bottom nothing but assumptions, imitations, manifestations of
a sham strength which at last is a wretched impotence—monstrosities with¬
out any saving object, but not therefore mere juggleries."
Ver. 10. "deceit of unrighteousness", —i. e., deceit which leads to,
belongs to and consists in unrighteousness. (D. A. Lu. Es. Ar. Gro. Rig.)
It is the agency of the Man of Sin.
"for them that perish", —Here is a limitation of his power and influ¬
ence. Only those who are perishing succumb under it. It is a present
participle and thus characterizes this future fate as already decided. Some
restrict the connection of this phrase to "with all deceit of unrighteous¬
ness" (FI. Lil. Hey. Hof.), but it is better with Riggenbach and Lunne-
man to conceive of it as belonging to the whole sentence from verse 9
onward.
"because they received not the love of the truth", —They loved false¬
hood and darkness more than truth and light. The natural man has no
love for truth and the awakening of a love for truth must precede the
reception of the truth itself. When every advance of grace to stir up the
love of truth is repulsed, there neither can truth itself be subsequntly
received. The high degree of guilt is thus represented. Truth is here
491
II THESSALONIANS
not necessarily the Christian truth but truth generally as opposed to false
hood which characterizes the workings of the Man of Sin.
Ver. 11. “and for this cause ”,—i. e., because they received not
the love of truth.
"God sendeth” ,—Not merely permits to come, but sends. To be
compelled to believe the lie they chose to believe is their punishment—sin
punished by sin. "It is”, says Lunneman, "a holy ordinance of God that
the wicked by their wickedness shall lose themselves always the more in
wickedness."
“a working of error”,—i. e., the active power of seduction.
"that they should believe a lie” ,—Not a definite lie, but rather the
element of falsehood in opposition to the truth. Alford and Ellicott take
it, because it has the article " the ” as referring to the definite falsehood
which the mystery of sin is working among them.
Ver. 12. " that ”,—The ultimate purpose of God. It depends on
" believe " of the preceding verse.
“be judged’’, —i. e., condemned (A. Lu.), as the context shows.
“the truth ”,—Here the Christian truth is meant as seen by its contrast
to unrighteousness.
THE TEACHING CONCERNING ANTICHRIST
The teaching concerning the Antichrist may perhaps be conveniently
classified under a fourfold division.
I. The teaching is not prophecy at all.
1. Paul was speaking of his own subjective anticipations of the
future of Christianity. (D. Jow.)
(a) But this involves the question of Inspiration or No Inspira¬
tion. It is enough to assert again that we believe, as Alford
says, "that Paul was giving utterance not to his own subjec¬
tive human opinions, but to truths which the Spirit of God
had revealed to him.”
2. Paul was simply quoting opinions from a letter received from the
Thessalonians, and step by step refuting these opinions. As if he
were saying, ”You certainly wrote to me saying that the day of the
Lord will not come except there be first a, etc., but don’t you
remember I told you about this when I was with you, etc.”
(Tychsen.)
(a) This view only deserves attention on account of its strange¬
ness and hardly deserves any refutation.
II. The teaching is prophecy already fulfilled; the coming of the Lord
took place in the destruction of Jerusalem.
Under this view (1) The Antichrist, (2) The Apostacy, (3) That
which restraineth, and (4) The one who restraineth, were according
to the different authorities as follows:
(1) Simon Magus, (2) the falling off of Christians to Gnosti
cism, (3) the union between the Christians and the Jews, (4)
the civil law. (Ham.)
492
II THESSALONIANS
(1) The rebel Jews and their leader Simon, (2) the rebellion
of the Jewish people against the yoke of Rome, (3) whatever
hindered the open breaking out of that rebellion, (4) King
Agrippa and the Roman Pontifices. (Cle.)
(1) The Jewish people, (2) the falling away of Jewish converts
to Judaism, (3) the Roman government, (4) the Emperor Claud¬
ius. (Wh.)
(1) Pharisees, Rabbis and Doctors of the law, (2) the rebellion
against Rome, (3) and (4) the Christians in prayer. (Scho.)
Other authorities found the Antichrist in Caligula, Titus, the
High Priest Ananias, the Jewish Zealots, etc.
But all these interpretations which conceive of the prophecy as ful¬
filled already, and that, in the coming of Christ at the destruction of
Jerusalem have against them the one fatal objection, viz., that it is
utterly impossible to conceive of the destruction of Jerusalem as in
any sense corresponding to the Parousia as the term is used by the
Apostle Paul.
III. The teaching is prophecy yet unfulfilled.
1. The Church Fathers, for whose opinion profound respect must
of course be held.
These all agree in referring the prophecy to the personal coming
again of Christ yet to take place, and in conceiving of the Anti¬
christ as an individual. Most of them took " that which restrain-
eth” as the Roman Empire, and " the one that restraineth” as the
Roman Emperor.
Some of these authorities, however, took “that which restraineth”
as the purpose of God. This view would naturally make “the
one that restraineth” to be God Himself. But how then can it
be said that God must be taken out of the way? It is contended
by some that the expression can be made equally applicable to a
voluntary withdrawal. It was the usual expression among the
Greeks for declining battle.
2. The Reformers who stood out in opposition to the Church as
she rose to the head of secular power with an imposing hierarchy
at her own head. They looked upon the Pope as the Antichrist.
The Pope in turn said the Antichrist was Luther. They explained
“that which restraineth” and held back the destruction of the
Papacy to be the Roman Empire, i. e., the imperial power which
they held to be a revival of the old Roman Empire.
The Apostacy, they taught, was the fall from pure evangelical
doctrine to the traditions of men, and the “one that restraineth”
they said was the Roman Emperor. The temple of God they
held to be the Christian Church and the “sitting in it” to be the
tyrannical power which the Pope usurps over it. (C. N. B. Zw. Os.
Ar. Ca. Za. Mi. Bez. Wol. Lan. Tur. Ben. Mac. Lut. Schm. Cali.)
Some of the Reformers referred to Mohammed as the Antichrist,
and said the apostacy was the falling off of many oriental and
Greek churches to Mohammedanism. Some held that there was an
eastern and a western Antichrist, Mohammed and the Pope. (Mel.
Bui. Pic. Bucer.)
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II THESSALONIANS
3. Modems.
(1) Those who made the Antichrist to be Napoleon; the Apos-
tacy the enormities of the French Revolution; the power that
restraineth, the German Empire. This Empire, however,
ended in 1806 and this alone convicts this view of error.
(2) Those who give the description a general, ideal or symbolical
sense.
(a) Paul was following the general import of Jewish expec¬
tations that there was to be a season of ungodliness be¬
fore the end, the full eruption he expected only after
his own death, he himself being the one that restrain¬
eth. (Kop.)
(b) The Man of Sin is Atheism, with its open authority
and contempt for religion. (Ni.)
(c) Many of the interpretations of the past are right but do
not exhaust the import of the prophecy. The various
untoward events and ungodly persons which have
hitherto been mentioned, including the godlessness of
the present time, are all prefigurations of Antichrist, but
contain only some of his characteristics, but not all.
It is the union of all in some one personal appearance
that shall make the full Antichrist. That which
restraineth is the moral and conservative influence of
political states, restraining this great final outbreak.
(O. E. A. Ba. Bis. Hof. Lud. Ger. Thi. Heub., these
authorities all agreeing in the main.)
So far as the Fathers are concerned, their idea of interpreting " that
which restraineth " and “he who restraineth " as respectively the temporal
political power and he who wields it, may be considered appropriate. They
then of necessity referred to the Roman Empire and the Roman Emperor.
But these have passed away and the Antichrist has not yet come, and so
in the particularization they were of course wrong.
So far as the Reformers are concerned the Pope does not and never did
fulfill the prophecy, and furthermore if Papacy be the Antichrist, then
has the Antichrist been revealed and endured now for more than 1500
years, and yet the Day of the Lord has not come, which, as Alford says,
"by the very terms of our prophecy such manifestation is to immediately
precede."
We still look for the Man of Sin, as the final and central embodiment
of lawlessness and resistance to God. The Apostacy is still going on.
Papacy, Mohammedanism, Mormonism, Christian Science, etc. Of “that
which restraineth " and “the one who restraineth”, the one, the general
hindrance and the other, the person in whom that hindrance is summed up,
Alford says, "As the Fathers took them of the Roman Empire and the
Roman Emperor, standing and ruling in their time, repressing the out¬
breaking sin and enormity,—so have we been taught by history to widen
this view and understand them of the fabric of human polity and those
who rule that polity, by which the great upbursting of godliness is kept
down."
494
I TIMOTHY
Ellicott says, "The restraining power of well-ordered human rule, the
principles of legality as opposed to those of lawlessness, of which the
Roman Empire was the then embodiment."
Riggenbach says, "The falling away is the general rush of violent
departure from the faith that precedes the final disclosure of the Anti¬
christian despot."
Heubner says, "However the delicate and tender-hearted may shudder
at the idea of such a degenerate, atheistical, as it were devilish generation,
yet according to the course of things it is probably what we have to
expect." (For other quotations see Lange Commentary on II Thess.,
page 138.)
Others think that since the restrainer is a person— "he”, and since a
" mystery” always implies a supernatural element, this Person can be none
other than the Holy Spirit in the Church. (Sco.)
Torrey-says, "It is only natural to think that this restraining power
has something to do with the Church; and the inevitable implication seems
to be that the Church must be removed from the earth before 'the lawless
one ' can be revealed on the earth."
Says Scofield, "The order of events is: (1) The working of the mys¬
tery of lawlessness under divine restraint which had already begun in the
Apostle's time (verse 7) ; (2) the apostacy of the professing Church (verse
3); (3) the removal of that which restrains the mystery of lawlessness
(verses 6, 7); (4) the manifestation to the lawless one (verses 8-10);
(3) the day of Jehovah (verses 9-12) ; (6) the coming of Christ in glory
and the destruction of the lawless one (verse 3)."
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
TIMOTHY
(A. D. 65)
CHAPTER FOUR
I But the Spirit saith expressly, that
in later times some shall fall away from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of demons.
Ver. 1. The Apostacy of the Latter Times.
"but ”,—Connects this verse, and by way of contrast, with the be¬
ginning of verse 16 of Chap. 3.
"expressly”, —Distinctly, in express words. This is the only place
in the Bible where the Holy Spirit is said to have spoken " expressly”. We
are inclined to think this was a direct prophecy by the Spirit to Paul him¬
self, although it may have been through the words of others spoken by
the Spirit. Paul may have been familiar with the word spoken by our
Lord in Matt. 24, and the predictions of other Apostles and of the prophets
then present in the church. These suggestions may be looked upon with
495
I TIMOTHY
favor, but the suggestion of Wiesinger that Paul had before him prophecies
of this kind in which allusion was had to the prophecies of the Old Testa¬
ment is at least doubtful, since in that case he would doubtless have said,
“The Scriptures saith", or “The Lord saith".
“in later times' ’,—There is an interesting distinction here to be noted.
Expositors all seem pretty much agreed that this expression is not quite
equivalent to the one in II Tim. 3.1. Our verse, they say, points simply
to the future, while that of II Tim. 3.1 (II Pet. 3.3; James 5.3) points
to the last time of the future immediately preceding the second coming
of Christ. (A. E. Hu. Oo. Hof.)
“some",—i. e. ( those who are led away from the faith by the heretics.
(Hu. Oo. Pli.)
“seducing spirits ",—The reference here is to the evil spirits which
inspire the heretics, and which are the tools of the Devil himself. (A. E.
Wi. Oo. Hu. PI.) (See Eph. 2.2.; 6.12.) Mack and Coray, on grounds
quite insufficient, think they refer to the heretics themselves.
“doctrines of demons’ ,—i. e., doctrines of which demons are the
source. (E. A. B. O. D. Wi. Oo. Hu. Con. The. and the Fathers gen
erally.) It is not doctrines regarding demons (Hey.), nor are these demons
to be referred to the heretics. (C. Mos. Mack.)
We wonder if there is not a bit of evidence here to show that the
spirits which are around in the Spiritualistic seances and sittings of the
present time are not the spirits of our departed loved ones at all, but spirits
whose distinguishing characteristics are a cloven hoof, a forked tail and a
lying tongue.
CHAPTER SIX
show, who is the blessed and only
Potentate, the King of 2 kings and Lord
of 3 lords;
‘Gr. than that reign as kings
3 Gr. them that rule as lords
Vers. 14,15. The Appearance op Jesus in God's Own Time.
Ver. 14. '‘commandment", —i. e., all that Christ has commanded,
the rule of the Gospel, the Gospel viewed as the rule of life. (O. A. E.
Hu. Wi. Hof. Leo.) Not merely the exhortation to fight the good fight
(Oo.) f nor the commandment to flee avarice (verse 11), nor even yet all
the doctrine that had been enjoined upon Timothy. (C. D. Bez.)
"without spot, without reproach ",—Timothy is charged to keep
the commandment that it may not be stained and open to reproach. (A. E.
D. Hu. Oo. Pli. Hof. and nearly all ancient interpreters.)
These epithets are in the New Testament as a rule, if not always,
referred to persons and for this reason some refer them to Timothy. (Wi.
Es. Leo. Mat. Hey. Bez.) Estius says they can only refer to persons, but
De Wett has shown with examples from classical Greek that this is not
the case, and the construction here and the general good sense thus secured
seem to make it preferable to refer them to the commandment.
“appearing", —This does not refer to Christ’s coming to Timothy
in death (Chr. Theo.), but to the visible appearing of our Lord at His
496
14 that thou keep the commandment,
without spot, without reproach, until
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;
15 which in 'its own times he shall
'Or, his
I TIMOTHY
second coming. It is the time mentioned in I Thess. 4.16,17 and is the
day of reward for the saints. (II Tim. 4.8.) It is the word, as Huther says,
that “brings into prominence the element of visibility in the Parousia".
“From such passages as this", says Alford, “we see that the apostolic age
maintained that which ought to be the attitude of all ages, constant expec¬
tation of the Lord's return."
This verse has been used by many as a proof that Paul believed the
second coming of Christ to be near at hand. (D. Hu. PI. Oo. Reu.)
Ellicott says, “It may perhaps be admitted that the sacred writers
have used language with reference to their Lord's return which seems to
show that the longings of hope had almost become the convictions of
belief, yet it must be observed that (as in the present case—' its own
times') this language is often qualified by expressions which show that
they also felt and knew that the hour was not immediately to be looked
for (II Thess. 2.2), but that the counsels of God, yea, and the machina¬
tions of Satan must require time for theif development."
Alford calls this a mistake and says that the word “epiphany"
(appearing) and the very words “i in its times" should have kept Ellicott
from making it. We cannot see how the expression "in its own times"
lends any weight one way or the other in regard to the nearness or remote¬
ness of that coming, and whatever argument Ellicott gets for his view of
this matter from II Thess. 2.2 depends entirely upon his interpretation of
that much disputed passage.
Our verse is by no means a strong proof passage for the belief for
which Paul has been given credit by the authorities mentioned above, but
whatever ground they feel they have for the view taken doubtless comes
from the fact that Paul told Timothy to thus keep the commandment
until the appearing. The Greek for this last word is “epiphany". It is
found in five other passages (II Tim. 4.8; II Tim. 4.1; Titus 2.13; Acts
2.20; II Thess. 2.8) and is rendered “ appearing" in every passage except
II Thess. 2.8, where it is "brightness ".
Ver. 15. “ its own times",- —This is better translated “his own
times". (A. E. Hu. Oo. PI.)
These words at least show that even if Paul did entertain a hope of
the near return of Christ, it did not lead him to fix arbitrarily the day
when that return would take place.
"he", —God.
"shall show", —i. e., cause to appear, make visible, display.
This passage shows that it is God who will bring to pass the epiphany
of Jesus Christ, and He will do this in His own times. (See Titus 1.3;
Gal. 4.4; I Tim. 2.6; Acts 1.7.)
The following ascription beginning with "who is the blessed", etc..
refers to God.
497
II TIMOTHY
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
TIMOTHY
CHAPTER ONE
10 but hath now been manifested by
the appearing of our Saviour Christ
Jesus, who abolished death and brought
life and immortality to light through
the ’Gospel.
12 For which cause I suffer also these
things; yet I am not ashamed; for I
'Gr. tncorruplion. See Rom. 2.7.
? Gr. good tidings
know Him whom I have believed, and
I am persuaded that He is able to guard
’that which I have committed unto Him
against that day.
18 The Lord grant unto him to find
mercy in that day.
3 Or, that which he hath committed unto me.
Gr. my deposit
Vers. 10,12,18. Paul's Confidence as to His Security in the Day
of His Lord's Coming.
Ver. 10. “the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus’, —The word
is “epiphany" and it is the only place in the New Testament where this
word is applied to the first coming, the incarnation, of our Lord.
Ver. 12. “For which cause”, —i. e., because he was appointed as a
preacher of the Gospel, and yet it was not because of the appointment con¬
sidered in itself alone but to the fact that to this appointment was related
Paul’s activity in proclaiming the Gospel. It refers to the immediately
preceding verse. (A. E. Oo. Hu. Wi.)
“suffer also these things”, —Paul was in prison.
“not ashamed”, —Prison for Paul was not a disgrace but a matter
for glorying. Said with reference to verse 8 and as an encouragement to
Timothy.
“him”, —i. e., God.
“know Him”, —I have the most unquestionable proof of His power
and His love—I know Him.
“whom / have believed”, —The literal of this is “to whom I have
given my faith". The figure is that of a deposit made and the depositor
trusting the depositary, and it is this which has induced the Revised Version
rendering (“guard"), although there is really no better translation than
that of the Authorized Version.
“that which / have committed unto Him”, —The literal Greek is
“my deposit", and this may mean what I have deposited with God or
what God has deposited with me, as in the margin.
The former is without doubt the correct view, but what, according
to this view, did Paul deposit with God?
1. His eternal reward, the crown laid up for him. (Wi. Oo. Pli.
Ca. Tho. Bez. Wol.) But Alford rightly remarks that “This
represents this reward not as a matter of God’s free grace but as
Paul's own delivered to God for safe keeping."
2. His salvation. (C. Am. Hu.) This is quite similar to the view
just noted and is open to the same objection.
498
II TIMOTHY
3. The believers who had been converted by his means; his converts.
But this is unsupported by the context and hardly needs refu¬
tation.
4. His soul, himself, as in I Pet. 4.19. (A. B. Gro. Pau. Con. Hof.)
What did God commit to Paul according to the second view? The
ings assigned to “my deposit " are very numerous and it must be con-
I that not one of them is free from difficulty.
1. The Holy Spirit. (The.)
2. The Gospel and its proclamation to the world. (E. FI.)
3. The apostolic office as a stewardship. (D. Hei.)
4. His own soul as entrusted to him by God. (Bret.)
5. His converts as committed to him by God.
In verse 14 and in I Tim. 6.20 we have the same word, " deposit”,
ised with the same verb, and because of this De Wette and others
that the sense and meaning must be the same. But this is a lax
areless way of reasoning. As a rule this is possible and true but it is
) means necessary. Wiesinger gives three good reasons why in this
; proves just the reverse:
1. In these other references Timothy is the guardian and in our verse
the guardian is plainly God and the guardian is usually the one
to whom the deposit is committed.
2. In these other references the deposit seems to refer to the doctrines
committed to Timothy, while in our verse it is a personal pos¬
session which belongs to Paul.
3. In these other references it is a question of right action on Tim¬
othy’s part, while in our verse it is a question of confidence and
consolation in the right action of another, namely, God.
[ am inclined to think, therefore, with Alford that when we inquire
this deposit was, the answer is to be found in the previous words,
)hom I have believed "; and that Paul had entrusted himself, body,
md spirit, to the keeping of his heavenly Father, and lay safe in His
;, confident of His abiding and effectual care.
'against that day ”,—The day meant here is the day of Christ's
i coming, the Parousia, "The day of the coming of Christ", says
rzee, "when the crown of life will be given to all who love His
ring." It is the day referred to in I Thess. 4.16,17.
Another strong reason in our mind against taking the " deposit " as
hing committed to Paul is that Paul would then have to render up
List, whatever it be, at the end of his life, and “that day ' here referred
>uld then mean the day of his death; and this is entirely contrary to
on the part of Paul.
Ver. 18. “in that day “,—The same day as that mentioned in verse
le day of the Parousia, of the second coming of Christ.
“the Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord ",—The repeti-
>f the word “Lord“ seems at first glance a bit confusing. Some refer
words to God while others again refer both to Christ. Some refer
rst word to God and the second to Christ, while others just reverse
499
II TIMOTHY
this order, and each with a reason of course sufficient for himself. Inas¬
much as all judgment is said to be committed to the Son (John 5.22),
it would seem best to refer the second word to Christ regardless as to whom
the first word is referred. But why not refer them both to Christ. Paul
had used the well-known formula, “The Lord grant” , and might simply
have finished by saying, “to find mercy in that day”, but in his mental
vision of the judgment, seeing Christ as Judge, he writes down, “from the
Lord”, just as it occurs to him, without recalling that he had begun with
“The Lord grant unto him”.
CHAPTER TWO
12 If we endure we shall also reign
with Him; if we deny him, he also shall
deny us.
Ver. 12. The Believer Shall Reign with His Coming King.
“we shall also reign with Him”, —All are agreed as to the reference
of this reigning to the time after the Parousia, when the Messianic king¬
dom shall be revealed in its full glory. (A. E. Oo. PI. Hu. Wi.)
(See Rom. 5.17; 8.17; I Cor. 4.8; Matt. 19.28.)
Not only shall we live with Him but we shall be kings with Him
and share .in His glory and dominion.
CHAPTER THREE
1 But know this, that in the last days men. as theirs also came to be.
grievous times shall come. 1 3 But evil men and impostors shall
9 But they shall proceed no further; wax worse and worse, deceiving and
for their folly shall be evident unto all being deceived.
Vers. 1,9,13. The Last Days Are to be Times of Distress.
Ver. 1. “in the last days”, —That the reference here is to a time
still in the future ought to be sufficiently evidenced to an unbiased mind by
the use of the future verb, “shall come”, and with this practically all un¬
biased scholars agree and refer the time to that immediately preceding the
second coming of Christ, the Parousia. (A. E. Oo. Eb. Wi. Hu. PI.) It
is the “last hour” of I John 2.18, and Alford again calls attention to the
fact that they of that time wrote and spoke of that hour and that day as if
it were to appear in the not very far away future.
The time referred to is not, therefore, the time between the first and
second coming of Christ, as Heydenreich maintains, nor as Mack says, the
time in which the errors spoken of shall come to an end. Such renderings
are purely arbitrary.
As another evidence that Paul thought the end not far away is noted
the fact that by verse 5 it would seem as though the times mentioned had,
at least in their beginnings, already set in, inasmuch as he tells Timothy to
turn away from these evil men who are to come in the last days.
“grievous times” ,—The idea is of distress rather than of danger as
conveyed by the word “perilous” of the Authorized Version. By De
Wette it is translated “critical times” and by Wiesinger, “severe times’
“evil times”.
500
II TIMOTHY
The following verses describe in what sense the “last days " are to be
grievous.
Ver. 9. “but they shall proceed no further”, —There seems to be a
contradiction between these words and those of verse 13 and of Chap. 2.16.
Paul certainly does not mean to contradict himself, nor is it likely, if it
could be possible at all, that he would do it in statements so close together.
The apparent difficulty must be relieved in one or the other of two ways:
either conceive of Paul as not speaking of the same people or as having in
mind a different kind of progress to be made by the same people, and of the
two the latter is without doubt the better explanation.
What the Apostle says is that there shall be no real and ultimate
advance. In Chap. 2.16 the Apostle seems to be speaking of an imme¬
diate spread of error, while here he is looking to its ultimate defeat and
distinction. Wiesinger says verse 13 treats of an intensive progress and
the more rapid their advance to the worse the more speedily will their folly
expose itself. The advance is not denied, but what is denied is the suc¬
cessful advance without detection and exposure. The authorities are
quite agreed as to this explanation. (A. E. Oo. Hu. Wi. PI. Chr.)
"as theirs also came to be”, —i. e., as the folly of Jannes and Jambres
of verse 8. (See Ex. 8.18 and 9.11.)
Ver. 1 3. The chasm is to grow wider and wider until the final issue.
"But”, —The contrast is rather with verse 12, to the godly in their
persecutions (A. E. Oo. Wi. Mat. Chr. Hey.), than with verse 10, Paul’s
godly life (D. Hu.). Either reference is permissible but on the whole
that with the immediately preceding verse 1 2 is preferable.
“evil men ",—i. e., evil men in general, and then particularized by
the next word, “impostors 1 , the impostors being included in the general
term.
“impostors', —This comes from a word meaning incantations by
howling, and from this it passes to the practice of magic arts in general,
and then by a very natural transition to deception and imposture. The
word really means "magicians" and Paul doubtless uses it with express
reference to verse 8.
Ellicott aptly says, "We cannot indeed definitely infer from this term
that magic arts were actually used by these impostors, but there is certainly
nothing in such a supposition inconsistent either with the context, the
primary meaning of the word, or the description of similar opponents
mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament."
“wax worse and worse”, —The language here not only can, as De
Wette says, but must be taken intensively, as practically all are agreed. It
is the same word as used in verse 9, but it denotes a greater degree of
wickedness while verse 9 refers the rather to increase in extent.
“deceiving and being deceived”, —Here the mode of progress is indi¬
cated. "He who leads others astray", says Huther, "is himself led astray."
CHAPTER FOUR
! ‘I charge thee in the sight of God.
and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the
living and the dead, and by his appear¬
ing and his kingdom;
'Or, / testify, in the sight . . . dead, both o}
h.s appeartug &'c.
3 For the time will come when they
will not endure the ‘sound “doctrine;
but having itching ears, will heap to
themselves teachers after their own lusts.
*Gr. healthful
3 Or, teaching
501
II TIMOTHY
Vers. 1,3. THE APPEARING OF CHRIST AN INCENTIVE TO MINISTERIAL
Fidelity.
Ver. 1. "in the sight of", etc .,—As though both God and Christ,
as visible witnesses, were considered personally present.
"the living and the dead" ,—It is altogether wrong to suppose with
Peile that the spiritually living and dead are meant, but all expositors are
agreed that it is the physically alive and the physically dead who are to be
judged at the time in question.
I have found no distinction in the minds of any of the expositors as
to any difference in the time of the judgment upon the living and the dead
respectively. If there is such a distinction, this verse assuredly must not
be taken as one of the proof references, although a fair exegesis does not
prohibit its interpretation in harmony with such distinction.
Of course the judgment in question is related in some temporal way
with the appearing, the coming of Christ. It is doubtful, however,
whether this verse says so in so many words. According to the Author¬
ized Version it does. This version reads, "at his appearing and his king¬
dom", and very many expositors adopt this reading and interpret "at”
as a preposition of time modifying the word "judge". But Tischendorf,
Tregelles, Lachmann, and by far the best manuscript authority favor the
conjunction "and" of the Revised Version and make it modify the word
charge .
In considering the question of time it might be well also first to note
the distinction between the words "appearing" and "kingdom" . These
words do not refer to one and the same thing, but the first refers to Christ’s
epiphany. His coming as mentioned in I Thess. 4.16,17, and the second
refers to His kingdom then to reveal itself in glory. Notice the repetition
of "his". This is not without significance; each point is conceived inde
pendently and in its own full significance; His coming at which we shall
stand before Him and His kingdom in which we hope to reign with Him.
It is without doubt the kingdom which begins with the return of our Lord.
Still the question as to the time of the judgment is before us. Those
who place the time of Christ’s coming after the Millennium refer this verse
to the general judgment of all the living and all the dead at that time, and
they of course quote I Thess. 4.16,17 and I Cor. 15.31,52 as being in
harmony with this interpretation.
Those who place the time of Christ’s coming before the Millennium
place the judgment of the living at the beginning of the Millennium and
the judgment of the dead at its close (Mack). As we have already said,
the verse may be made exegetically to conform to either view, but it can
scarcely be said to lend evidence one way or the other, and the matter must
be settled by one’s thought in regard to the matter as shaped by the teach¬
ing of other portions of the Word.
There is an interesting turn in the expression, "shall judge" , which
we have noticed nowhere else; it really means "about to judge ”. There is
no doubt but that grammatically this rendering is correct. The word
"mellontos" does carry, according to all lexicons consulted, the idea of
"to be about to do anything", and this is all the more true when used
with a present infinitive. Thus Thayer in his lexicon defines the word,
with the infinitive present, "to be on the point of doing something". It
502
II TIMOTHY
cannot therefore be thought over-refined or arbitrary to see in the expres¬
sion, as used by Paul, an added evidence of his feeling that the coming
again of his Lord was not to be conceived of as in the far distant future.
Ver. 3. "the time will come", —The same time is here meant as
that in Chap. 3.1, the time he has been talking about.
4 'not endure ’, —They will find it intolerable because it is not con
sistent with their desires.
"itching ears' ,—The word means to scratch or tickle. Their desire
is to hear something tickling to the ear.
"heap to themselves", —The idea here is to procure in multitudes,
and the word involves the idea of contempt.
"after their own lusts ",—i. e., their own willful, selfish desires
instead of obedience under the divine will.
8 henceforth there is laid up for me me at that day, and not to me only, but
the crown of righteousness, which the also to all them that have loved his
Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to appearing.
Ver. 8. The Hope of His Coming is Inconsistent with Unright¬
eous Living.
"henceforth" ,—i. e., as to what remains for me. At the end of his
life-course nothing remains but to receive the crown.
''laid up", —The prize is already prepared and laid up for him and
cannot possibly escape him.
"the crown of righteousness" ,—This is to be explained as the crown
which is bestowed as a recognition of righteousness—that which rewards
the righteous course of life. (A. E. D. Wi. PI. Pli. The. Chr.)
There is another explanation which takes the word righteousness as
an apposition to crown, that in which the crown consists. (Hu. Oo. Dw.
Leo. Holt, Grimm.) Reference is made to Jam. 1.12; I Pet. 3.4; Rev.
2.10, where this kind of construction doubtless prevails.
This view is of course possible, but if it is accepted, "righteousness"
must be vested only with its ordinary meaning, and not with the forensic
sense as though it were the righteousness of Christ imputed, as Calovius
and Mosheim take it. Analogy with the other passages mentioned seems
to favor this view, but since the word "righteousness" in all cases in these
epistles appears to have not a dogmatical but a practical reference, it seems
better to take the first view. Wiesinger well remarks that righteousness
could hardly be taken as the reward of righteousness, and that the reward
is always elsewhere represented as life ox glory, and that the first view is in
harmony with the figure being used, which is not true of the second view.
"the Lord" ,—i. e., Jesus Christ.
"shall give" ,—Alford reads "shall award". The word itself does
not necessarily convey any sense of due, requittal, reward, although, as
Ellicott says, "such a meaning can be grammatically sustained and con¬
firmed by examples", and in keeping with our explanation above it is
better for us to so take the word here.
"at that day ",—i. e., the day of His appearing; the day of Christ’s
Parousia, which Paul now of course no longer expected to see on earth.
(I Thess. 4.16,17.)
503
II TIMOTHY
“have loved", —i. e., those who at that day shall be found to have
loved, and still to be loving—those who have looked forward with longing
and earnest joy.
"his appearing ",—His Parousia, the epiphany at the second coming.
18 The Lord will deliver me from
every evil work, and will save me unto
his heavenly kingdom; to whom be the
glory Torever and ever. Amen.
3 Gr. unto the ages oj the ages
Ver. 18. The Kingdom Awaiting the Believer Immediately upon
Death.
"The Lord", —i. e., Christ.
“every evil work ",—This does not mean from the evil one (Mos.
Pel.), nor from every evil circumstance (Lut. Mat.), which would be out
of harmony with verse 6 and would be against the essential meaning of
the word “evil", which in the New Testament always refers to moral evil
and not to external affliction.
There are two other views, each of which has many strong advocates:
1. The evil works which he himself might do, i. e., yield to tempta¬
tion and apostatize through faint-heartedness. (A. D. PI. Gro.
Hey. Bez. Chr.)
Oosterzee well remarks, “But at this high state of his spiritual
development, and with death immediately before him, as he well
knew, it is not probable that the aged Apostle could have felt and
expressed fear in this respect."
2. The evil acts and designs of his enemies toward him. (E. Oo.
Wi. Hu. Hof.) It was not that Paul expected to be delivered
from prison (verse 6), but that he knew that through the Lord
he would be delivered from the attacks of the evil One and his
agents so that they could do him no harm. In other words,
“Stone walls do not a prison make; nor iron bars a cage." Of
course so far as outward circumstances went, his enemies had the
best of him, and could do with him as they pleased and this Paul
knew. The Lord in His providence had not seen fit to deliver
him from them in this respect, and this does not seem to enter
into Paul’s concern. If any harm then came to him or was at all
likely to come to him through their treatment of him, and from
which he might well hope to be rescued, it would be that of faint¬
heartedness and apostacy, but the possibility of this being so far
removed for the reasons above stated, it would seem on the whole
best to adhere to the second view as above.
“his heavenly kingdom ",—This is the only place in the New Testa¬
ment where this exact expression occurs, and some have declared that the
term and the idea are alike foreign to the Apostle, who knows only of a
kingdom of God which Christ will introduce at His coming. But surely
this is an ill-considered conception. There is a three-fold aspect of the
kingdom and Paul is familiar with them all. A glance back at verse 1
shows his familiarity with the idea of the kingdom to be established at
Christ’s coming. In Col. 1.13 he says that we as Christians are already
504
TITUS
translated into the kingdom of His dear Son; and in Phil. 1.23 the Apostle
anticipates for believers immediately after death an entrance into a heavenly
kingdom in which there is a fuller fellowship with Christ than that which
any earthly existence can afford. The kingdom referred to in this verse is
the same as that in Phil. 1.3.
“Why then", says Wiesinger, “even though the precise expression does
not occur elsewhere, regard the idea as un-Pauline, when the Apostle recog¬
nizes elsewhere a being with Christ after death, regards Christ as reigning
in the heavens, and the establishment of His kingdom on earth, to which
he naturally adverts when he would mention the closing period, as but the
manifestation of the sovereign authority with which He is already
invested?"
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO
TITUS
(A. D. 65)
CHAPTER TWO
13 looking for the blessed hope and
appearing of the glory ‘of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
'Or, oj our great God and Saviour
Ver. 13. The Believer's Blessed Hope.
“looking for",—And of course expecting. (Lu. 2.25; Mk. 15.43.)
“the blessed hope", —Looking for a hope sounds strange, but this
strangeness is relieved when we remember that hope here does not so much
designate subjectively the form or the act of hoping, as rather objectively
the contents and the object of the hope, the thing hoped for. And yet it
will not do to take “hope" too objectively. It is rather hope contemplated
under objective aspects, our hope being thought of as something definite
and substantial.
Alford aptly says, “Nearly objective,—the hope as embodying the
thing hoped for; but keep the vigour and propriety both of language and
thought, and do not tame down the one or violate the other."
“blessed“, —This hope is thus described because it brings the expected
blessedness, and the expectation of it blesses the believer.
“appearing" ,—The Greek is epiphany. There are two great epipha¬
nies, the Epiphany of Grace (verse 11), when Christ first appeared in
humility, and the Epiphany of Glory (this verse), when Christ is to
appear again in power, which last Epiphany beyond doubt denotes the
Second Coming of Christ.
Epiphany, it seems, differs only from Parousia in that it emphasizes
the visibility of the Second Coming.
“glory ",—It is better to join this word with both “hope" and
“appearing" rather than with the latter word alone.
505
HEBREWS
The rendering of the Authorized Version, ‘ the glorious appearing”,
is incorrect and unfortunate.
“of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ", —This is the rendering
of the Revised Version and it makes the " Saviour Jesus Christ" to be the
great God, while the rendering of the Authorized separates the two. The
authorities for these two renderings are about evenly divided.
The settlement of this question does not lie within the scope of the
purpose of this study. It may be said, however, in passing that even
Winer admits that the question cannot be settled on purely grammatical
grounds.
Ellicott says, “It does indeed seem difficult to resist the conviction
that our blessed Lord is here said to be our great God, and that this text
is a direct, definite and even studied declaration of the divinity of the
eternal Son.”
We are inclined, for reasons not in place here to enumerate, to feel
about the passage rather much as Wiesinger says, “Whoever will simply
read and translate the words without doctrinal prejudice will have as little
hesitation in referring them to one and the same subject, as in understand¬
ing, for instance, in II Pet. 1.11, the words, ‘kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ \ as relating to the same subject.”
THE EPISTLE TO THE
HEBREWS
(A. D. 64)
CHAPTER ONE
3 4 Tby throne, O God, is for ever and
ever;
And the sceptre of uprightness is the
sceptre of thy 5 kingdom.
3 Ps. 14.6 r.
*Or, Thy throne is God for &*c.
•The two oldest Greek manuscripts read his
Vers. 2,8. The End of These Days and the Everlasting King¬
dom of Christ.
Ver. 2. “at the end of these days", —It is very plain that the end
of any time may be thought of as a point of time, the terminus itself, or as
a portion of time. In this latter sense we speak of a week-end visit, mean¬
ing the end of the week in the sense of one or more days. It is in this
sense the word “end" is used both by the prophets of the Old and New
Testament writers.
What days are to be understood? Of course the particular time to
which the writer referred is the same as that meant in Chap. 9.26, “at the
end of the ages", the time between the coming and the crucifixion of
Christ, the time when the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy commenced.
2 God hath at the end of these days
spoken unto us in 'his Son, whom he
appointed heir of all things, through
whom also he made the ''worlds;
8 but of the Son he saith,
'Gr. a Son
2 Gr. ages. Comp. 1 Tim. 1.17
506
HEBREWS
But how is " the end of these days” to be interpreted in harmony
with this statement of the case? Just what did the writer mean by " these
days” and “the end”?
Lunneman says he means the very days in which he and his readers
were actually living, and he says the writer uses “the end” because he was
thinking of the near approach of the Second Coming, i. e., the closing
days of “these days”, the last part of them, their culmination.
But the period between the coming and the crucifixion of Christ was
at the beginning and not at the end of those days. If Lunneman were
right it would be quite as appropriate for us to say the same thing in these
days of ours, and certainly the time when God spoke through His Son is
not A. D. 1923!
The reference cannot be to the days of the prophets because those
days did not extend down to the time of Christ, and furthermore the an¬
tithesis between “days of old” and “these days” would then be lost.
With good reason therefore we must refer the phrase to the technical
Old Testament expression, "be-acharith-ha-yamim" (Num. 24.14),
which in the Septuagint is rendered so many times, “in the last days” or “at
the end of the days” . These expressions which in themselves denote simply
the end of certain days, became to the ancient Jews an expression for "the
times of the Messiah". Thus what Peter meant at Pentecost was, "We
are now in what Joel called ‘ the last days,” (Acts 2.17.)
The Jews divided the religious history of the world into two periods.
One period they called Olam Hazzeh, the time before the Messiah whom
they were expecting, the time which preceded the fulfillment of prophecy
concerning the Messiah. The other period they called Olam Haba, the
time after the Messiah had come, which coming, in their minds, was to be
accompanied by the resurrection. They knew nothing of a second com¬
ing and a delayed resurrection.
The Jews called the former of these periods "this age" (Greek, aion
outos), and the latter period they called "the age to come" (Greek, aion
mellon).
Now the actual days of the Messiah seem to have been regarded as a
transition between these two ages, sometimes being included in the former
and sometimes in the latter. They could therefore very properly be said
to be the end of the pre-Messianic age (which the Jews called "this age"),
and they could quite as properly be called the beginning of the post-
Messianic age (which the Jews called "the age to come"). In fact this
Messianic period was by the Rabbis sometimes reckoned with the one and
sometimes with the other.
The Jews of course did not and could not foresee that it would be
necessary for the Apostles and for us to again divide the portion of time
known as the end. But they rejected the Messiah and He went away,
promising that He would come back again, and consequently to all who
believe in this promise there is still another "age to come", another "future
age", which is to begin at the time of our Lord’s return, and the days that
now are and which were in the writer’s time are in a sense, chronologically
distinct from Jewish conception, "the present age", "this age" (aion
outos).
507
HEBREWS
The following diagram will help in distinguishing these various
divisions of time, the expressions above the line being the Jewish expres¬
sions of the times as related to the Messiah, while those below the line are
made from the Apostolic and Christian standpoint, the star standing for
the actual days of the Messiah and the arrow for His return.
Olam haba
aion mellon
age to come
the last days
the latter days
be-acharith-ha-yamim i
* --
this age age to come
aion outos aion mellon
the last days
the latter days
As the Christians believed that the Messiah had come, the former
period, as conceived by the Jews, had, in their mind, already ended, and
they themselves were living in the Olam haba, in what was in reality the
"age to come" of the Jews.
Now Moll says, "The ' these days’ are not the days in which the
readers and the author lives, but they correspond to what the Jew knew as
‘this age' (aion outos), and the ‘end’ is to be taken as indicating the close
of the pre-Messianic time." This will be found consistent with what we
have already said if the actual Messianic days be counted with the former
of the two Jewish divisions of time as the ending days of that period.
But why did the writer say “these days”? All agree as to the time
which was actually in the writer’s mind, and the only difficulty is to
harmonize the word “these” with it.
There can be only one answer to this question and that is that the
writer would have them know that the days in which they were living
belonged to “the end of the days” , not the end in the sense that the Second
Coming of Christ was near (against Lunneman), but the end in the Old
Testament technical sense.
Says Lindsay, "The word ‘these’ was added plainly to indicate that
the days referred to had already begun. They were styled ‘the end of the
days’, ‘the last days’ from the most ancient times; but now, says Paul, they
are ‘these last days' because the long expected Messiah has appeared."
The explanation of Moll is indeed most simple and there is much
to say in its favor, but between it and this other we are inclined to the
latter. In the former, “these” points to time before the arrival of the
Messiah and in the latter to time after His arrival, and we cannot get away
from the conviction that the writer used the word with the latter thought
in his mind.
Ver. 8. “Thy throne , O God, is forever and ever”, —That the word
“God” is here in the vocative case and applies to Christ there can be no
doubt. Other explanations are absurd and sometimes preposterous. The
marginal reading of the Revised Version will not do; it puts Christ above
Olam hazzeh
aion outos
this age
508
HEBREWS
God, as he who sits upon a throne is always superior in dignity and im¬
portance to the throne itself.
"forever and forever", —Greek, “unto eternity of eternity". The
phrase is unique in the New Testament and means that the dominion of
Christ is to endure forever.
Lindsay says it is His mediatorial throne to which reference is here
to be seen.
CHAPTER THREE
7 Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit
saith, 1 Today, if ye shall hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the pro¬
vocation, like as in the day of the trial
in the wilderness.
13 But exhort one another day by
J i>s. 95.7 ff.
CHAPTER FOUR
7 He again defineth a certain day, Harden not your hearts. 8 For if
Today, saying in David so long a time 'Joshua had given them rest, he would
afterward (even as hath been said be- not have spoken afterwards of another
fore), l Today if ye shall hear His voice, day.
J Ps. 95.7 f. *Gr. Jesus. Comp. Acts 7.4 5
Here are a number of instances in which the word “day" is used to
express a greater period of time than twenty-four hours. In verses 7,13,15
of Chap. 3 and verses 7 and 8 of Chap. 4, the word will have, as West-
cott says, “various interpretations in accordance with its connections. For
the Church it is the whole time until Christ’s Second Coming. For the
believer it is the period of his life."
Specifically “today" refers to the day when this word of God is read,
whether in private or when the Psalm from which it is taken was read
in public as it was accustomed to be read, “whenever", as Alford says,
“that might be".
The “certain day" of Chap. 4.7 is the “today" mentioned in the
various other verses.
“The day of temptation" in Chap. 3.8 refers specifically to the second
murmuring against Moses and Aaron for want of water at the close of the
fourth year's wilderness experience, while “the provocation" refers to the
first murmuring of the same kind at the beginning of the wilderness experi¬
ence; hence the whole forty years are covered by the two expressions. (See
Num. 20.1-13 and Ex. 17.1-7.)
CHAPTER EIGHT
7 For if that first covenant had been and with the house of Judah; 9 Not
faultless, then would no place have been according to the covenant that I made
sought for a second. 8 For 'finding fault with their fathers, in the day that I
with them he saith, ''Behold the days took them by the hand to lead them
come, saith the Lord, that I will “make forth out of the land of Egypt; for they
a new covenant with the house of Israel continued not in my covenant, and I
'Some ancient authorities read finding fault
with it, he saith unto them &*c.
J jer. 31.31 ff.
3 Gr. accomplish
day, so long as it is called Today, lest
any one of you be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin.
15 While it is said, Today if ye shall
hear His voice, harden not your hearts
as in the provocation.
509
HEBREWS
regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10
For this is the covenant that 4 I will
make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws
in their mind, and on their hearts also
will I write them; and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people;
*Gr. / will covenant
11 And they shall not teach every man
his fellow-citizen, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord. For
all shall know me. from the least to the
greatest of them. 12 For I will be
merciful to their iniquities, and their
sins will I remember no more.
Vers. 7-12. The New Covenant in Christ.
Ver. 7. “if that first covenant had been faultless", —i. e., if it had
fulfilled perfectly the purpose to which it pointed. The law is not blamed;
the fault lay with those who received it.
“no place . . . for a second", —i. e., no place in the development of
the divine purpose and consequently no place in the history of the world.
Ver. 8. “them", —i. e., the Israelites. Grammatically this word
can be taken either with “finding fault" or “saith". The authorities are
about equally divided, but all things considered it seems best to retain the
reading of our text, thus making it the people who are blamed and not the
covenant. If it is taken with the word “saith" then some word must be
supplied as the object of “finding fault", and the sentence would read,
"finding fault with (it, i. e., the covenant) He saith to them."
“the days come ",—The words are from Jeremiah 31.31-34, and the
days to come are the days to be introduced by the Messiah.
“make ",—This is not the same word as that used in verses 9 and 1 0.
This word really means "to accomplish" and seems to be used inten¬
tionally to set forth the completeness of the new covenant (A. Lu.) and
to emphasize the efficacy of it. (W. Del. Aug.)
“Israel and Judah ",—Both went into captivity after the prophecy
here quoted was made by Jeremiah, and both are specified in God's promise
of grace and restoration. The once divided and exiled people are again
to be brought together, says Jeremiah; the schism is to have no existence
under the new covenant.
That Jeremiah, when he made the prophecy here quoted, had in mind
a broader conception than merely that of national Israel seems rather cer¬
tain because the writer of Hebrews quotes him and uses his words, “Israel
and Judah", with a reference wide enough to take in all the people of God.
The new covenant, the New Testament Covenant, takes in all of us who
are God's people and the writer speaks of it as a covenant with the house
of Israel and the house of Judah. Therefore it would seem that this
expression means something more than Jews, at least so far as this passage
goes.
Ver. 9. “with ",—The preposition here used really means "to",
and it therefore excludes the notion of reciprocity in the covenant making,
the people of Israel being only recipients and not co-agents in the making
of it.
“regarded them not", —i. e., did not concern Himself about them as
formerly. Yet their unfaithfulness did not annul the faithfulness of God.
for this He proved by establishing a new covenant when the old one failed
to accomplish His gracious purpose.
510
HEBREWS
Ver. 10. “house of Israel”, —This refers to the whole nation; the
division having ceased the people of God is again called by its own name.
The reference here also as understood by the writer of Hebrews is to the
people of God in general and not to Israel after the flesh.
"after those days'*, —This may be taken either with Delitzsch as
meaning “after the days that are coming** as mentioned in verse 8, which
is the same from the viewpoint of time as “after the end of these days' in
Chap. 1.2 as advocated by Westcott; or it may be taken with Alford as
meaning “after those days of disregard** as mentioned in verse 9, which is
the same thing from the viewpoint of time as “after the days which precede
the coming days of verse 8”, as advocated by Lunneman. The latter
explanation seems to be favored more by the context and the more precise
meaning of the preposition “after*.
“mind . . . hearts**, —Says Lindsay, “They are not only to be known
and remembered but loved, cherished and obeyed/'
Ver. 11. This does not mean that there shall be no religious instruc¬
tion but that the knowledge of the Lord would be widely spread in the
Church. There needs to be no privileged class interposed between the
mass of men and God, but the people being brought by the Holy Spirit into
true fellowship with God are themselves to be privileged by an immediate
knowledge of Him. (Read Joel 2.28,29; Isa. 54.13; Matt. 11.11; Lu.
7.28; John 6.45; I John 2.20,27.)
“from the least to the greatest** ,—There is to be no distinction of
age, station or endowments.
Ver. 12. The New Covenant rests upon forgiveness on the part of
God and not on performance on the part of man. It is this fact that
insures us against any repetition of failure such as the Old Covenant had
produced. As yet this prophecy has received only partial fulfillment, and
we look patiently forward to its more ample and complete fulfillment in
the days when “The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the
waters cover the sea.**
CHAPTER NINE
25 Nor yet that he should offer him¬
self often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place year by year with
blood not his own; 26 else must he
often have suffered since the foundation
of the world; but now once at the ’end
of the ages hath he been manifested to
put away a sin by the sacrifice of himself.
*Or, comsummalion
a Or, by his sacrifice
Vers. 25-28. Christ's Appearing the Second Time unto Them
That Look for Him.
Ver. 25. “nor yet (hath he entered into heaven) that he should
offer himself often’*, —By many authorities “offer Himself** is referred to
Mis sacrificial death upon the cross. (W. D. Lu. Ow. Lin. Tho.)
By as many others it is made the offering of Himself before God, His
self-presentation in the heavenly holiest place. (A. An. Dw. Bl. Del.
Hof. Mol. Kur. Boe. Schli.)
27 And in as much as it is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this
cometh judgment; 28 so Christ also,
having been once offered to bear the sins
of many, shall appear a second time,
apart from sin. to them that wait for
him, unto salvation.
3 Gr. laid uf for. Col. 1.5; 2 Tim. 4.8
511
HEBREWS
The argument in favor of the first view rests upon the general usage
by the writer of the word "offer". This argument has considerable
weight for the word used is the usual one for the taking of the victim to
the altar and not for the carrying of its blood within the veil.
This single argument, however, weighty as it may be, is hardly
weighty enough to outbalance what is to be said in favor of the other view.
Dwight has well said, “The high-priest’s ministry in the presence of God
is the thing or the subject constantly kept before the reader’s mind through-
out, and the sacrifice here, as everywhere in this section, is subordinate to
the offering of the blood in the sanctuary.”
This fact, together with the use of the word "suffered" in verse 26,
which refers to His death on the cross, the “ entered in" and "to appear" of
verse 24, the "entereth" of verse 25. the contrast with " suffered" of verse
26, all seem to show that the word "offer" denotes Christ’s presentation
of Himself with His blood before God in the heavenly Holy of Holies.
Ver. 26. "else ",—Here must be supplied, “if that were the case’’.
"often have suffered since ",—But how could Christ have suffered
often? How could He have offered Himself in sacrificial death more than
once? We might well say the thing is impossible, and yet explanations
have been given.
Lunneman says by a series of incarnations and crucifixions and en¬
trances into heaven, while Delitzsch says He would have had to sacrifice
Himself just as many times on earth as He expected to present Himself in
the heavenly sanctuary, i. e., accumulate, as it were, a stock of sacrificial
deaths on earth.
Moll, who with Hofman, Alford and others supports this last explan¬
ation, says it is far more probable than the more common view of Lunne-
man. I see very little to choose between the two, but the view of Delitzsch
it seems to me is much the harsher and the more unnatural and improbable
of the two.
But the speculation is a useless one, for this very verse (verse 26)
shows the unreasonableness of them both and relieves us of making any
choice between them, and for this purpose it would seem the first clause ol
this verse was introduced.
Christ entered into the heavenly Holy of Holies free from the neces¬
sity of returning for further sacrifice of Himself and without any necessity
for having suffered more than once before He went.
"now", —i. e., as things actually are. The word does not express
any temporal idea.
"once", —i. e., once for all, without need of renewal.
"at the end of the ages", —Ages is here plural to imply that the course
of history is regarded as a succession of various periods, of which the appear¬
ance of Christ forms the conclusion.
The word for "end" in the original is one which expresses rather a
consummation, an end involving more than one part or phase.
The end of the ages marks a point of termination of a series of prepar¬
atory ages, the ages being pre-Messianic and covering the whole period
indicated by "since the foundation of the world".
512
HEBREWS
By many the expression is taken as denoting the end of the world
and there is much to be said in favor of this interpretation.
Wherever “ages" occurs in the plural in the Epistle to the Hebrews
it means the world. (Chaps. 1.2; 11.3.) In the Gospels the word here
used for “end" repeatedly occurs with the singular or the plural of the word
“age", and always means the end of the world. The contrast between
this expression and the “foundation of the world" seems also to call for
this meaning.
Then, too, there is a sense in which this rendering is perfectly proper.
Two thousand years have now passed since the first coming of Christ, but
certainly this is not what the primitive Church was expecting. “The first
Christians", says Alford, "universally spoke of the second coming of the
Lord as close at hand, and indeed it ever was and is." In comparison
with the long ages gone the writer might well conceive of the end of the
world as near, even though he allowed it to be several hundred years away,
although evidence does not seem to be wanting that he thought of it as
nearer than that. Paul contended that he was living in “the last times"
and he might have thought of those times as the end of the world, which in
a very certain sense they were and are.
There is, however, one fact that inclines us to the view we have
already taken, that the ages refer to pre-Messianic times, the end of the
Jewish economy. It is this: In the expression, “foundation of the world",
the writer had just used another word for “world" (kosmos), and had he
meant “world" in our passage we most certainly would have expected him
to use the same word. (W. A. C. St. An. Fa. Lu. Del. Mol. Mac. Tho.
Ham.)
“hath he been manifested", —i. e., in the flesh at His incarnation.
“put away sin ",—The word really means "annulment". Sin is
vanquished, set at naught in its guilt and in its power.
“by the sacrifice of himself", —This belongs to “put away sin” and
not to “manifested ".
Ver. 27. “And in as much", —This introduces a reason for what
has been said. As in the case of man it is appointed unto him to die but
the once, so is this true of Christ who is a partaker of our human nature.
“judgment", —Sincfe judgment follows death, Christ upon His return
will not again have to offer Himself for the cancelling of sin as He has
already once done, and nothing remains for Him but to return as Judge
in glory. The judgment is therefore not passed upon the soul at death
(Fa. Kur.), but at the last day. (W. B. A. Bl. Lin. Bis. Del. Mai. Tho.)
Ver. 28. “having been once offered", —The verb is passive, the
offering being on one side voluntary but on the other the result of some
outward compulsion. For the agent some supply "by Himself" (Chr.),
some "by God" (Kur. Hof.), and some "by men" (Del., "the demoniac
violence of the act of betrayal and crucifixion"). If an agent must be
supplied, Alford has given perhaps the best answer to the query, i. e.,
"through the Eternal Spirit, as in verse 14—the divine submission of our
Lord subjecting Himself to the external force which was exerted against
Him—that force being in some part the agent, but not without His own
will cooperating."
513
HEBREWS
“to bear the sins of many”, —The reference here is plainly to Isa.
53.1 2, where the same word is used in the Septuagint, the original Hebrew
of which combines the meaning of “bear' and “take away”. The former
meaning “bear”, i. e., “to take upon one's self", is the only one properly
represented by the word in our text. The thought therefore is that of the
vicarious sacrifice, to bear the penalty of, make atonement for, the vicarious
endurance of punishment for the sins of others. (D. A. Eb. Ew. Es. Del.
Aug. Boe. Bis. Mai. Mol. Kur. Hof. Con. Rie. Schm.)
“many” ,—i. e., mankind in general. The notion is simply that of
multitude without any regard to the question whether this plurality con¬
stitutes the totality of mankind or not. (A. C. W. Lu. Del. Lin.)
“appear a second time”, —This is the same verb as the one usually
used of the appearances of Christ after His resurrection. It refers here
of course to His second appearance before the eyes of men at His Parousia.
“apart from sin ",—These words form a contrast, not to Christ’s
character during His first visit to this world, but to His work in reference
to sin. It does not mean, therefore, as Edward Irving contended, that
Christ had not been altogether without sin when first in this world. The
sense is manifestly, “without any further sin laid upon Him”. He is to
come, when He returns, not as a sin bearer, but as a Judge.
“to them that wait for him”, —The believers who cease not to desire
the return of their Lord and wait for Him even as the people of Israel
waited for the return of the high-priest from the Holy of Holies after
the atonement had been made.
“unto salvation”, —These words belong to “appear” and not to
“them that wait”. He comes to accomplish or rather to consummate
salvation. It was worked out by vicarious atonement during His first
appearance, but its complete realization awaits His second coming.
CHAPTER TEN
13 henceforth expecting till his ene¬
mies be made the footstool of his feet.
Ver. 13. Patient Waiting for the Lord's Return.
“henceforth”, —i. e., from the time of His sitting down at the right
hand of God.
“expecting”, —i. e., looking for Him, awaiting with expectancy, in
fulfillment of the divine promise that He is one day to come again.
“till ”,—i. e., until the time of His Parousia, waiting until the time
of His second coming, which waiting period was expressed in “henceforth ”.
“enemies”, —All opposing powers.
The order of the subduing of His enemies Paul describes in I Cor.
15.23-26, between which passage and this one in Hebrews there is no
discrepancy, as some maintain there is. It is said that here all enemies are
represented as subdued before Christ leaves the right hand of God and
returns to earth, while in Corinthians Christ first comes to earth and then
subdues His enemies.
But the fact is that in Hebrews the second coming of Christ is not
taken into account, i. e., it is not the thing stressed. It is rather the con¬
trast berween the suffering and triumphant Christ that is stressed in
514
HEBREWS
Hebrews, whereas in Corinthians the Apostle concerns himself especially
with the order of events.
Then, too, as Lindsay says, “We must not attach a too local concep¬
tion to ' the right hand of God’. That simply means participation in the
rule of the universe, and Christ's return to this world, so far from being
an abdication of His authority, is an exercise of it. When a prince leaves
his palace and capital for a distant part of his dominions, he does not there¬
by give up his right and title. The real thing that is meant by the figure
of Christ sitting at the right hand of God, really continues after Christ's
return to this world.” How splendidly Paul brings this out in Cor¬
inthians; first, He comes (verse 23), then He subdues His enemies (verse
24), and then what? “F or He must reign untri He hath put all enemies
under His feet.” (verse 25.)
25 not forsaking our own assembling
together, as the custom of some is. but
exhorting one another; and so much the
more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
Ver. 25. The Lord’s Return an Incentive to Fidelity.
”not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together ”,—The right
interpretation is that the writer means to admonish them against neglect¬
ing the practice of coming together at stated periods for worship. (A. D.
Lu. Eb. An. Fa. Lin. Chr. Del. Tho. Hof. Mol.)
The expression, “assembling ourselves together”, must not be taken
as meaning the Church and the whole phrase as embodying an admonition
against apostacy. (C. Bl. Kui. Cap. Sey. Bret.) The Church is always
styled “ecclesia” and the word used for “gathering” is never applied to the
Church or the religious community. Furthermore the following phrase,
“as is the custom”, shows that apostacy is not meant, inasmuch as apos¬
tacy is not a custom or a habit.
In the neglect of public worship the writer no doubt saw the danger¬
ous germ of apostacy, as seems evident from the following admonition,
“exhorting one another” , and by the awful caution which is found in the
next verse.
“exhorting one another ”,—In the place of public worship and in
private to fidelity, love and good works.
“the day”, —The day of Christ’s second coming, the day of His
reappearing, the Parousia. It is the day of days, “the breaking up”, as
someone has said, “for the Church of the redeemed the night of the
present.” Of all the various designations of Christ's second coming this
one is the briefest.
Lunneman says, "It is the day of the coming in of the Parousia of
Christ, which the author thinks of as quite near at hand (verse 37), and
which the readers themselves already saw drawing nigh in the agitations
and commotions which preceded the Jewish war, such 3S had already begun
to appear.”
Lindsay thinks the writer here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem
because they could “see” the signs of this day approaching, but not of the
other far away day of the second coming. But as to this the signs may
as easily have been those referred to by Christ Himself in Matt. 24, as the
515
HEBREWS
signs of His coming. And then, too, verse 37 clearly refers to the second
coming of Christ.
That the New Testament writers thought the Parousia of Christ to
be not far away is too clearly revealed to be denied, and who knows but
that they may have thought the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem
would be the time of that coming. It was at least one of the great types
and foretastes of it, “the bloody and fiery dawn”, as Delitzsch finely calls
it, “of the Great Day." He further says, “The approaching judgment on
Jerusalem of which so many signs filled the sky, brought home the thought
of His coming in a peculiarly vivid manner."
37 'For yet a very little while. He
that cometh shall come, and shall not
tarry.
J Hab. 2.3 f.
Ver. 37. The Second Coming of Jesus Not to be Long Delayed.
“a very little while ”,—The original is
“a little, little while", or more literally still,
“a very, very little while",
“for yet how, how little".
or
“He that cometh”, —Literally, “the Coming One", so-called because
since His ascension He has always been coming, His return being a matter
of constant expectation.
It is by nearly all commentators rightly referred to Christ's personal
second coming, although by some (Me. Eb. Din. Em. Hei. Bio. Carp.)
referred to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
The words, “a very little while”, are not a part of the quotation, but
proceed from the author himself. It is perhaps a reminiscence of and may
be an allusion to Isa. 26.20, where they are found. That which follows
is a quotation from the Septuagint rendering of Hab. 2.3,4.
In Habakkuk it runs, “If it delays , wait for it; it comes, it comes;
it will not tarry ” By “it” is meant the vision, and the vision concerns the
overthrow of the Chaldeans by the judgment of God. Now the word
“vision” in Hebrew is feminine, and the Septuagint in making their trans¬
lation used the masculine form in the verb “comes”, thus evidently referring
to some one indicated by the vision. The writer of Hebrews uses the
quotation as found in the Septuagint, not necessarily adducing it as a
proof, but evidently as expressing his own ideas in regard to the coming
of the Messiah a second time; and he makes it clear that he refers to this
coming person because he attached the article “the” to the word “coming
one”, which article is not found in the Septuagint.
“shall not tarry”, —There is to be no delay beyond the final term
fixed by the divine wisdom, long-suffering and mercy.
Blackstone says, “There is no prophesied event which has to be ful¬
filled before His coming in the air to receive His Church." To those who
complain that it has been more than “a little while”, he says, “Wait until
you have realized a few of the mighty cycles of eternity, and then these
eighteen centuries will indeed appear to be ' a very, very little while*. God
speaks to you as an immortal soul. The ‘little while* of Hag. 2.6-7, we
believe has not ended yet, and it certainly covered the 500 years up to
Christ's first coming."
516
HEBREWS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
35 Women received their dead by a
resurrection: and others were tortured,
not accepting their deliverance; that
they might obtain a better resurrection.
Ver. 35. Torture NOT WORTHY TO BE COMPARED WITH THE RESUR¬
RECTION of the Just.
"by a resurrection", —These examples here are without doubt taken
from the life of the woman of Sarepta and of the Shunamite who received
their children back in the way of resurrection. As the women are men¬
tioned by the writer, rather than the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who,
respectively, by the power of God, raised the dead in question, it is doubt¬
less the faith of the women rather than that of the prophets that he had
in mind.
"others were tortured", —From the term used it is probable that the
reference is to a mode of torture in which the victim was stretched on a
wheel and then beaten to death with a club.
"that thy might obtain a better resurrection" ,—While this refers, of
course, to the resurrection of the just "at the last day", it can hardly be
urged, with Blackstone, as an argument for a first resurrection as distin¬
guished from a later one at the end of the Millennium.
It is possible that the future resurrection is here called "better" in
comparison with the temporal "deliverance" previously mentioned (Lu.
Tho. Mol. Win. Hei. Ham. Schm. Gerh.), but it is far more natural to
refer it to the resurrection already spoken of. These blood-witnesses gave
up their lives to obtain a resurrection to eternal life which was far better
than a mere restoration from death back again into this life. (O. A. B. D.
Eb. Bl. St. Chr. Lin. Del. Boe. Schu.) Others, again, understand the
expression as contrasted with the resurrection of the ungodly to judgment,
using Dan. 12.2 as a reference verse. (Oec. Theo.) But there is nothing
in what goes before to suggest this idea; and besides there is nothing good
at all in the resurrection to judgment, and the word "better" therefore,
according to this interpretation loses entirely its force.
CHAPTER TWELVE
26 Whose voice then shook the earth;
but now he hath promised, saying, 'Yet
once more will I make to tremble not
the earth only, but also the heaven. 27
And this word, Yet once more, signi-
»Ha*. 2.6
Vers. 26,27. The Old Earth and Heavens Giving Way to the
New.
Ver. 26. "then", —At the promulgation of the Mosaic law.
"shook the earth ",—This refers to a literal shaking (A. An. Ed. Lu.
Lin. Mol. Del.), and not to a figurative one, the emotions produced among
the Israelites. (Es.)
"now", —i. e., under the New Testament dispensation hath he
(God) whose voice it was that spoke at Sinai, promised, etc.
fieth the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that have been
made, that those things which are not
shaken may remain.
517
HEBREWS
Without a doubt the promise referred to is the prediction in Haggai
2.6, and the “now" points to the period to which the prediction referred,
i. e., with regard to the present Christian dispensation hath He promised,
etc.
“yet once mote", —This expression implies that the shaking is to be
such as makes any repetition of a similar shaking superfluous. It means
“once more and then not again". “All that admits of being shaken will
then forever have been removed", says Westcott.
What the writer in verse 26 appears to say is that the God whose
voice shook the earth in the old dispensation at the giving of the law on
Mount Sinai, hath “now". with reference to this dispensation, promised to
shake not only the earth but the heaven and that with a shaking which
was to be final; and in verse 27 he says this “yet once mote", this final
shaking signified that all things shakable were by the shaking to be removed
and the unshakable things were then forever to remain.
There arc two views as to the reference contained in these verses:
1. It is the opinion of Lindsay and others (Coc. Lap. Boe. Klee)
that “mount Zion" and “the city of the living God" and “the heavenly
Jetusalem" of verse 22 are figures of the new order of things, in short of
the Gospel Church, and they accordingly understand the shaking of heaven
and earth here mentioned as figurative descriptions of the great political and
social changes which accompanied the introduction of the Gospel.
2. On the other hand there are those, and these are the great majority,
who take the expressions of our passage as descriptive of the great physical
convulsions by which a new heaven and a new earth are to emerge out of
the ruin of the old. (A. O. D. W. S. An. Ed. Lu. Bl. The. Era. Bez. Tho.
Mol. Del. Theo.)
Lindsay says these authorities refer the expressions of verse 22 to “the
glorious condition that awaits the saints after the resurrection" and upon
this build their explanation of the passage now under consideration.
We are inclined to think, however, that Dr. Lindsay allows the expres¬
sions found in verses 22-25 too large a part in the explanation of the pas¬
sage before us. Not one of the authorities, who take the second view, says
anything one way or the other, as he deals with the three expressions in
verses 22-25, as to the time element being either after or before the resurrec¬
tion of the saints.
But altogether apart from what the three expressions in verses 22-25
mean, there are other expressions in the verses noted, some of which evi¬
dently refer to the saints now on earth and some to such saints as are now
in their glorified condition, and that too before their resurrection, as prac¬
tically every one of the authorities supporting the second view above men¬
tioned admits.
For instance, “the Chutch of the Rtstbotn who ate entolled in heaven"
(verse 23) without doubt refers to the saints living on earth, the Church
below (A. An. BI. Eb. Mol. Gro. Mos. Boe. Kui. Lin. Tho. Del. Hof.
Prim. Schu. Schli. Knapp, Riehm), although some (C. B. S. Lu.) insist
that saints already glorified are meant, and others still would include both
(O.).
It is equally certain that “the spirits of just men made petfect",
whether we include in the expression Old Testament saints only (D. Bl.
518
HEBREWS
Eb. Lap. Wol. Schu. Schli.), or New Testament saints only (B. Ba. Lu.
Gro. Mos. Schm.), or both (A. An. Fa. Lin. Del. Tho. Bis. Boe. Kui.
Mol. Knapp, Riehm), (and of this we are convinced) refers to the saints
who are now in glory.
Those who take the second view above mentioned are quite ardent
in its support. Thus Alford says, "It is clearly wrong to understand this
shaking of the mere breaking down of Judaism before the Gospel, or of
anything which shall be fulfilled during the Christian economy, short of
its glorious end and accomplishment." Thus the prophecy of Haggai seems
to point to the same great final bringing of all the earth under the kingdom
of God, which is spoken of in Zech. 14, when the Lord shall come with
all His saints. The heaven that is to be shaken here is the material heaven
stretched above the earth.
Few points have been more contested than this. On hardly any
portion of the Epistle have commentators left us so much in the dark.
Interpreters, who otherwise are rich in exegetical pearls, have seemingly
hurried over this passage as an undesirable place to tarry.
It is true, as Lindsay says, that the primary object of this Epistle is to
show that under the New Covenant we have advantages and privileges that
were not enjoyed under the Old, and that contrast all along has been
between the heavenly, spiritual elements of the New Dispensation and the
worldly, material, perishable elements of the Old. But what the writer
of the Epistle is doing here is to base upon that contrast, so finely and fully
brought out in verses 22-24, certain much needed warnings and instruc¬
tions. He therefore says, "See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh, whose
voice then (at Mount Sinai) shook the earth, but who now (as regards
this Dispensation) hath promised to shake not the earth only, but also
heaven." We repeat therefore that we must not look back to verses 22-24
for the key to the interpretation of the passage under consideration.
Furthermore to confine the fulfillment of the promise of Haggai to
that which took place at the introduction of the Gospel by the first coming
of Christ, as does Lindsay in the first of the two views noted above, is to
put upon the prophecy the stamp of at least partial failure, for most assur¬
edly that prophecy does not seem as yet to have met with its full and com¬
plete accomplishment.
Again, this Epistle does not anywhere describe the passing away of
the Old Covenant as a violent catastrophe, but rather as that of something
which has grown old and decayed, whereas the coming death of the Lord
is elsewhere and often spoken of as accompanied with great convulsions
of nature.
The fact is that the prophets of the Old Testament made no distinc¬
tion between the beginning and the consummation of the age to be inaugu¬
rated by the appearance of the Messiah they foretold. They expected the
consummation to come speedily upon His arrival. To them it was not
given to see the two thousand years which God in His longsuffering has
allowed to intervene while He is gathering out a people for Himself. The
two advents of the Messiah are therefore regarded as one, even as two
peaks in a mountain range seen from a distance seem to be one close upon
the other or practically together but which are in reality many miles apart,
and the shaking which was promised began at the first advent of the
Messiah and will be completed at the second; the convulsions connected
519
JAMES
with the overthrow of Jerusalem foreshadowing those which shall take
place upon the return of the Lord, the announcement of which is to the
ungodly a terror but to believers a promise to the fulfillment of which they
can look forward with joy. This is practically the view of Alford and
the majority to which attention has already been called.
Ver. 27. The last clause of this verse, beginning with “that”, is
most properly joined to the word “ removing” as indicating some inferiority
in the things that were shakable and hence removed. (A. W. D. S. Lu.
Bl. An. Lin. The. Oec.)
It has by others been joined to the preceding word “made” and two
explanations of the thought are set forth:
1. “made to the end that the unshakable things might remain”, i. e..
remain by the passing away of the unshakable things. (B. Gro.
Tho. Del.). This thought is beautiful enough indeed but this
connection not only destroys the logic and the rythm of the sen¬
tence, but it is forced and unnatural. Of course if the things are
unshakable they must of necessity remain.
2. “made in order that they may await the unshakable things”, i. e.,
that they may remain until the unshakable things arrive. (Sto.
Boe. Kui. Klee, Bauldry.) But this would rather call for the
present tense than the aorist, and besides it gives to the Greek word
a sense (wait) hardly suitable to the scope of the passage.
Eternal reality abides only in the ideal. The material world is
unreal and evanescent. When it has served its purpose, it will be removed
and the new heavens and the new earth, God’s heavenly city and eternal
kingdom, the things unshakable, will abide forever.
THE EPISTLE OF
JAMES
(A. D. 60)
CHAPTER FIVE
3 Ye have laid up your treasure in
the last days.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until
the ’coming of the Lord. Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious
fruit of the earth, being patient over it,
until 3 it receive the early and latter rain.
'Gr. -presence
3 Or, he
Vers. 3,7,8,9. Exhortations in View of the Coming of the Lord.
These are the only four verses in the whole of the Epistle of James
which are devoted to the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
It is evident, however, from these four verses that he shared in the preva¬
lent hope of the near approach of “the Parousia of the Lord”. To him it
8 Be ye also patient; establish your
hearts; for the ’coming of the Lord is
at hand. 9 Murmur not, brethren, one
against another, that ye be not judged:
behold, the judge standeth before the
doors.
520
JAMES
was both a day of blessing for the Christian and a day of judgment for
the ungodly.
Ver. 3. “in”, —Not “against” nor “for” as in the Authorized
Version; neither is the word “wrath” to be supplied to the word “treas¬
ures”, as in Rom. 2.5 (C. Es. Lau,). The treasures are amply described
in the foregoing verse as treasures of riches.
“the last days”, —In harmony with the rest of the Epistle these words
are to be taken as the last days before the Second Coming of Christ (A. G.
Hu. PI. Gl.), and are not to be referred to the last days of their lives (Wol.
Mor.), nor to the last days just before the coming national judgment on
the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem (L.).
Ver. 7. “patient”, —The literal is “longsuffering” and it is an
exhortation to forbearance toward their oppressors and to a trustful wait¬
ing on God for deliverance.
“coming of the Lord”, —James uses the usual expression, Parousia—
presence. By “Lord” is meant Christ (A. L. Fr. Hu. Wi. Bru. Bou.)
according to constant Christian usage, and not God (D. Aug. Thie.).
The whole context shows that James is thinking of Christ's Second
Coming as the judge of the wicked ones, and of course at the same time
as a rewarder of the righteous.
Some, of course, relate the matter to the destruction of Jerusalem, and
Fronmuller says that the Apostles thought that the coming of Christ at
the end of the age was to take place at the same time with the destruction
of Jerusalem, and so combine the two views.
“early and latter rain ”,—The rain of Autumn and Spring. James
is illustrating by example.
Ver. 8. “establish”, —This means to confirm and strengthen, which
things are required for patience to which he had been exhorting them.
“is at hand”, —The literal here is “hath drawn near”. The verb is in
the perfect tense; if the coming of the Lord had drawn near, it was then
most assuredly “at hand”. The reference is of course to the Second Com¬
ing at the end of the age.
How could James say this? It was certainly the general expectation
of the day, but James would not base his statement upon this unless he
had reason for believing it. Was he, as some say, looking through the
eye of faith and seeing as God sees, that one day with the Lord is as a
thousand years? No, hardly. He was saying what he did as a comfort
to the Christians to whom he was writing as something which might take
place in the near future, not necessarily before they died, yet there is little
if any doubt but that believers in that day were taught to live in constant
expectation of the coming again of their Lord.
Ver. 9. “murmur not one against another” ,—The reference here is
to a sinful irritability towards each other because of impatience, and not
to an imprecation of divine vengeance on one another (C. L. Hot. Mor.
Geb.).
“that ye be not judged”, —i. e., when the day of judgment comes.
Murmuring thus involves judging one another, and this violates our Lord’s
injunction in Matt. 7.1.
521
I PETER
"the judge standeth before the doors”, —This of course can be taken
in no other sense than that it is used to indicate the nearness of Christ's
coming to judgment, and is evidently quite equivalent to the expression
used in the preceding verse. It gives all the more reason why the Christian
should be patient and leave all judgment to the Lord.
The sneering ones at Jerusalem used to ask Saint James, "Which is
the door of Jesus?", "By which door will He come?"
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF
PETER
(A. D. 60)
CHAPTER ONE
your mind, be sober and set your hope
perfectly on the grace that ‘is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ.
20 who was foreknown indeed before
the foundation of the world, but was
manifested at the end of the times for
your sake.
5 Gr. is being brought
Vers. 5,7,13,20. The Revelation of Christ the Time of Full
Salvation.
Ver. 5. " by the power of God”, —This expression is related to the
omnipotence of God, and is not to be understood of the Holy Spirit, as
some do. The Holy Spirit is never so designated in Scripture; not even
in Lu. 1.35. God’s power is the efficient cause of the guarding, while
"through faith” is the effective means by which the power of God effects
the preservation.
"ready to be revealed”, —This refers, of course, to the salvation.
Says Fausset, "When Christ shall be revealed, it shall be revealed."
There are those who are ever insistent that Paul shall be made to say
the coming of the Lord is near if the language used permits of the least
possible turn in this direction. Here this turn is found in the word
“ready”. Fronmuller, for instance, remarks, "Paul thinks of the salva¬
tion as not far distant but as close at hand, and he says in Chap. 4-5,
'Who shall give an account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and
the dead/ Sharing the opinion of the other Apostles concerning the near¬
ness of Christ’s advent to judgment, he describes the salvation as ready to
be revealed. (See Jam. 5.7,8; Rev. 1.3; 22.10,20; Heb. 10.25,37; Jude
18; I John 2.18; Rom. 13.11,12; I Cor. 15.51; II Cor. 5.2,3; Phil.
4.5; I Thess. 4.17)."
And Huther says, "When this time will be the Apostle does not say,
but his whole manner of expression indicates that in hope it floated before
his vision as one near at hand."
5 who by the power of God are
guarded through faith unto a salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.
7 that the proof of your fauh. being
more precious than gold that perisheth
though it is proved by fire, may be
found unto praise and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 Wherefore girding up the loins of
522
I PETER
Wc might say that it is in no wise certain that the reference in Chap.
4.5 refers to the nearness of the judgment, and furthermore that the stress
of being “ready” here is not on the nearness of the " revelation”, but on the
fact of the salvation being ready, prepared, completed for the revelation
when it comes.
The tense of the infinitive after “ready” gives the idea of the rapid
completion of the act of the revelation as contrasted with the guarding
mentioned.
“in the last time”, —This is elsewhere called “the end of the age”
(Matt. 13.39,40). It is absolutely the last time, beginning with the
Parousia, and is not to be thought of in the Jewish technical sense as ”the
last times” beginning at the first advent of Christ.
"The last time", says Fausset, "is the last day, closing the day of
grace; the day of judgment, of redemption, of the restitution of all things,
and of perdition of the ungodly." "It is", says Salmond, "the time clos¬
ing the present order of things, and heralding Christ's return. Pre-
Messianic times began to fade to their extinction with Christ’s First Advent;
post-Messianic times entered conclusively with Christ’s Second Advent.
The former was known as ' this age', to which, although Christ had ap¬
peared, the Apostle’s own time was spoken of as belonging. The latter
was called 'the age to come , the final reality of which was as near as was
the Messiah’s glorious return. This Second Advent, therefore, was the
crisis once for all separating the two, and the time which marked the end
of the one period and ushered in the other was ' the last day' /the last time ’.
Christ's return will announce the close of the 'last time’ of the old order,
and in a moment uncover what God has prepared in secret."
"The hope of the Church", says Morgan, "is, in this aspect, a salva¬
tion to be revealed in all its fullness when Jesus Christ Himself shall come."
This salvation, or “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away”, for which the Christian is guarded, and which is said to be
“ready to be revealed in the last time”, is in verse 4 said to be reserved
in heaven. This means, of course, that the inheritance, which has been
prepared for us from the beginning, has been laid up in reserve for us in
the heavens where God Himself is. It is thus made doubly safe in that
it is laid up for us, as Lillie says, "among God’s own treasures, under His
own eye, and within the shelter of His omnipotence", and we are guarded
and kept by the power of God through faith against the day of its reveal¬
ing. The expression, however, “reserved in heaven”, was much used by
the Fathers and Greek interpreters as an argument against the Millennarian
doctrine.
Fausset says, "It does not follow that because it is now laid up in
heaven, it shall not hereafter be on earth also."
Ver. 7. “at the revelation of Jesus Christ”, —The reference is to
the Parousia, when Christ, who is now withdrawn from our sight, will
appear again, and with His revelation shall come also the revelation of
the saints of God. (Rom. 8.9; I John 3.2.)
Ver. 13. “at the revelation of Jesus Christ”, —This is to be taken
in the same sense as in verse 7. (A. D. C. Hu. Fr. Es. Wi. Oec. Grc Car.
Sta. Bez. Sem. Hof. Theo. Pott.)
523
I PETER
However, there are those who take it as the revelation of grace made
by the Gospel in which Jesus Christ is revealed. (B. Zo. Ca. Wei. Era.
Gerh. Steig.) But in no passage is the revelation of the Gospel called
“the revelation of Jesus Christ", and this view is not only contrary to the
New Testament usage of this expression, but it is contrary to the immedi¬
ately previous usage by John in verse 7, and contrary as well to the general
significance of the present participle, "is being brought”, which is the literal
rendering and which cannot be taken in the sense of a past tense, but must
be looked upon as a realization of the future.
Ver. 20. “manifested”, —This same word occurs in Chap. 4.4 of
the Second Coming of Christ, but here it refers to His first coming, which
is represented as an emerging, as it were, from obscurity through the mani¬
festation of the incarnation.
“at the end of the times ”,—This expression in Chap. 1.5 and in
II Pet. 3.3, where it is “the end of the days” , refers to time yet future,
immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ, but the expression is
here conceived of in the technical sense as “the last times”, the entire period
beginning with the first coming of Christ.
Alford has put it, "This manifestation of Christ marks this time, this
present dispensation, as ' the end of the times' and it will endure only so
long as the ‘manifestation’ requires."
CHAPTER FOUR
5 who shall give account to him that
is ready to judge the living and the dead.
7 But the end of all things is at
hand; be ye therefore of sound mind
and be ye sober unto prayer.
Vers. 5,7,13. The Return of Christ an Inspiration to Sober
Mindedness and Patient Endurance.
Ver. 5. “ready to judge ”,—Here again many expositors read into
the word “ready” the idea that the judgment is pointed out as near at hand.
But this is far-fetched. It simply states that God is fully prepared; all
the means and necessary conditions are in His hand.
“the living and the dead”, —-Whether living or dead at the appearing
of the Judge, none can escape. (See remarks under II Tim. 4.1.)
It is strange that by anyone this should be understood of Christians
only (Wic. Schot.), or that others should refer it alone to those who speak
evil. It refers, of course, to all who are living or dead at the time when
the judgment mentioned is to take place. There can be no doubt, how¬
ever, that there is a special reference here to the blasphemers and the natural
inference is that Peter was saying that they should not remain unpunished
whether they die before the day of judgment or not. There is to be found
here consequently just another touch of that thought of the nearness of the
end which seemed to hold the minds of the Apostles and early Christians.
Ver. 7. “But the end of all things is at hand ”,—It is hard to see
how any one can find anything in this expression other than just what its
surface meaning indicates, namely, that Peter thought that the end of all
things was about to transpire, and that with the coming of the Lord there
13 but insomuch as ye are partakers
of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the
revelation of His Glory also ye may re¬
joice with exceeding joy.
524
I PETER
was to arrive a time of joy and reward for the believer and a time of wrath
and destruction upon the ungodly. Consistent with this we call attention
to the following quotations, hundreds of which of similar import might
be added:
Alford,—“This was the constant expectation of the Apostolic age."
Huther,—“That the Apostle, without fixing the time or the hour of
it, looked upon the advent of Christ and the end of the age therewith
connected, as near at hand must be simply admitted
Salmon,—“The vivid realization of the nearness of the end, which
appears in all the Apostolic writings, is especially characteristic of Peter:
to him the close of the present dispensation was so near that nothing seemed
to stand between him and it.“
Fronmuller,—“Peter in common with the other Disciples expected
that the second advent of Christ and the end of the whole present dispen¬
sation were nearly impending.”
Says John Calvin, “It ought to be the chief concern of the believer to
fix his mind constantly on Christ’s second advent.”
Ver, 13. “ at the revelation of his glory”, —The expression is found
only here and it refers to the time of His Parousia. Whoever is a partaker
of Christ's sufferings and rejoices therein will one day have the glad privi¬
lege of rejoicing everlastingly in His glory. Otherwise the day of the
revelation of Christ and His glory would be to them a day of terror.
CHAPTER FIVE
1 The elders therefore among you I
exhort, who am a fellow elder, and a
witness of the sufferings of Christ, who
am also a partaker of the glory that shall
be revealed.
Vers. 1,4. The Believer's Glory at the Manifestation of the
Lord.
Ver. I. “ the glory that shall be revealed” ,—The reference is to the
day of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter may have had in mind the
words of his Master in John 13.36, but it is safer exegesis to think he was
glancing back to the “ revelation of glory” in Chap. 4.13.
The present participle is used here and Alford, as is his invariable
custom, reads into it the idea of nearness and translates “about to be”, but
the rendering of the Revised Version, ‘‘shall be”, is better. The participle
with the passive infinitive, which is used here, expresses something that is
determined and certain rather than something that is near, although the
verb from which the participle comes (mello) does mean “about to be”.
Ver. 4. “ shall be manifested” ,—This word like the word “revela¬
tion” relates to the visible return of the Lord. While the reference is
clearly here to the Second Coming, Peter uses the same word, as seen in
Chap. 1.20, to express the first coming of Christ.
Says Alford, “It would not be clear from this passage alone whether
Peter regarded the coming of the Lord as likely to occur in the life of his
readers, or not; but as interpreted by the analogy of his other expressions
on the same subject, it would appear that he did.”
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall
be manifested, ye shall receive the crown
of glory that fadeth not away.
525
II PETER
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
PETER
CHAPTER ONE
1 1 for thus shall be richly supplied
unto you the entrance into the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
16 For we did not follow cunningly
devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and the ‘coming of
our Uord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-
’Gr. presence
witnesses of his majesty.
19 And we have the word of
prophecy made more sure; whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
lamp shining in a Mark place, until the
day dawn and the day-star arise in your
hearts.
J Gr. squalid
Vers. 11,16,19. The Return of the Lord, the Day-dawn of the
Heart.
Ver. 11. “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ”, —Whether you take this to be the kingdom into which the believer
enters at the moment of his death or that which the Lord established at His
Coming will depend upon your conclusion from the study of the entire
subject of the “kingdom’' as presented throughout the Scriptures, and
whether you consider the Second Coming of Christ to take place before or
after the Millennial period.
Notice it is “the" entrance, the well understood entrance which formed
the object of every Christian’s hope.
Ver. 16. “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ”,—
“power”, —The whole treasure of divine power is centered in Him.
(Matt. 28.18.) The Apostle is thinking of the Transfiguration (verses
17,18), and “power” denotes, as Salmon says, "the fullness of might of
the glorified Lord as it will be more especially revealed in His Coming."
“coming” .—The word here is the usual Greek word, "Parousia",
and in harmony both with New Testament usage, and the connection of
the thought here (verses 4,17; Chap. 3.4), relates to the Lord’s Second
Coming. (A. D. Hu. Es. Sem. Die. Hof. Kna. Bru.)
It must not, therefore, be taken as referring to His human birth.
His first coming (Va. Hor. Jac.), nor to fiis presence during the time He
appeared on earth (Schm.), nor to "his appearing with miraculous powers
in the flesh along with His expected appearance in glory". (Fr. Han.)
Ver. 19. “in your hearts”, —These words make the interpretation
of the whole verse somewhat difficult.
They do not belong to “take heed” (Schot.), nor to the following
“knowing this first” (Hof.), to which is opposed the position of the words.
They belong to the clause immediately preceding, “until the day dawn and
the day-star arise” (D. Hu. Fri. Wi. Bru.), which clause itself is to be con¬
nected not with “shining” (B. Hof. Schot.), but with “take heed” (A.
Hu.). Because of the words “in your hearts” some think, as Salmon says,
that a subjective application must be given to the whole verse and the
526
II PETER
following explanations are made of the various terms:
"dark place ",—
Fronmuller refers this to the condition of the readers before they
were Christians, and the "day dawn", etc., to the idea of a man's conver¬
sion. But the context makes clear the fact that Peter's words were to those
who were Christians.
By others the words are made to refer to a low state of spiritual
knowledge and experience which is to give way to a higher state of illumi¬
nation and assurance in the case of Christians.
The time when the day dawns in the hearts of the Christians and the
morning star arises, and when consequently they can do without the light,
has been variously interpreted. The expression is taken by Grotius to
mean their attainment of the gift of prophecy; by De Wette, "the arrival
at the full conviction of the certainty of the coming of Christ"; and by
Alford, "that degree of Christian experience where faith rests not on exter¬
nal evidence, but upon the inward revelation of the Holy Spirit."
The " day-star " means, of course, the morning star which always
accompanies the dawning of the day and is added here to complete the
picture.
On the other hand there are those who take the objective interpreta¬
tion of the words to be the proper one and think of the "dark place " as a
figure of the world itself.
The time spoken of, as is seen by the very wording of the verse, must
be the time present with the readers, and therefore any reference to Old
Testament times is out of place. It is the world in its present condition
to which reference must be had. (Hu. Wi. Bru. Sal. Die.) The place
where the Christians are and where the light shines are one and the same,
and if they did not take heed unto this light they would be in darkness.
The analogy of similar figures (Rom. 13.11) favors the objective
view. The majority of those who take this objective view refer it to the
Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ.
"The reference therefore", says Salmon, "seems to be to the day of
Christ’s Second Coming, in comparison with which the present state of
the world is the time of night and darkness."
According to this view the particular point of time in view is that
immediately heralding the Second Advent itself, "the time when the sign
of the Son of man appears" (Matt. 24.30), when believers are to lift up
their heads because their redemption draweth nigh (Lu. 21.28) when
accordingly the morning star which ushers in the day shall arise in their
hearts, i. e., in their hearts shall arise a light and an assurance like the dawn
of day with its morning star.
There is no doubt that the evidence warrants the application of the
expression to the Second Coming of Christ, although it is possible, as
Alford says, that "the Apostle may have mingled both ideas together as
he wrote the words; seeing that even in our hearts the fullness of the
spiritual will not have arisen until that time when we see face to face and
know even as God knew us."
527
II PETER
CHAPTER TWO
4 For if God spared not the angels
when they sinned, but ‘cast them down
to 2 hell, and committed them to "pits of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
'Or. cast them into dungeons
a Gr. Tartarus
3 Some ancient authorities read chains. Comp.
Wisd. 17.17
9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation, and to
keep the unrighteous under punishment
unto the day of judgment;
Vers. 4,9. The Intermediate State of Judgment.
Ver. 4. “when they sinned .’’,—The reference is to the revolt, of
Satan and his associates. (See Jude 6.)
“cast them down to hell”, —The word is “Tartarus” and is found
nowhere else in the New Testament nor in the Septuagint. It is not
“hades”, and it is not synonomous with “Gehenna”, which is the place of
final punishment; but it is the intermediate scene or state of punishment,
the preliminary place of confinement and state for the spirits similar to
what sheol is for men.
“judgment” ,—The final judgment. Jude reads, “unto the judgment
of the great day ”.
“reserved”, —The word has in it the idea of being held in custody.
Ver. 9. “temptation”, —Including, as in I Pet. 1.6, not only temp¬
tation in the limited sense, but all species of trials, persecutions and the like,
“under punishment”, —Not “to be punished”, as in the Authorized
Version, but held in reserve “for the final judgment of the great day ”.
(A. Hu. Fr. Wi. Sal. Bru. Schot.)
CHAPTER THREE
3 knowing this first, that ’in the last
days mockers shall come with mockery,
walking after their own lusts. 4 and
saying, Where is the promise of his
3 coming? for. from the day that the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were from the beginning of the
creation. 5 For this they wilfully for¬
get, that there were heavens from of old.
and an earth compacted out of water
and 3 amidst water, by the word of God;
6 by which means the world that then
was, being overflowed with water, per¬
ished; 7 but the heavens that now are.
and the earth, by the same word have
been ^stored up for fire, being reserved
’Or. in the last of the days
3 Gr. presence
°Or, through
^Or, stored with fire
against the day of judgment and de¬
struction of ungodly men. 8 But for¬
get not this one thing, beloved, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some count slackness; but
is longsuffering to you-ward, not wish¬
ing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. 1 0 But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief;
in the which the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise, and the ^elements
shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and
the earth and the works that are therein
shall be fl burned up.
r 'Or, heavenly bodies
6 The most ancient manuscripts read dis¬
covered
Vers. 3-10. Mockers of His Coming and Their Destiny.
Ver. 3. “knowing this first ”,—They are to consider it as a principal
point of the prophetical words they are now to read.
“in the last days”, —Literally, “in the last of the days”. The times
referred to are those immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ,
528
II PETER
and, says Salmon, “immediately introducing the age described as r the
age to come
“mockers shall come with mockery", —The form of the expression
gives sharp emphasis to their conduct, and the Authorized Version by
omitting “with mockery" strips the statement of its most graphic stroke.
“walking after their own lusts", —Says Salmon, “The lustful life and
the scoffing voice are not associated here without a purpose."
“ou;r 7 lusts", —This brings out the self will and the opposition of
these men to the will of God—no longer wolves in sheep's clothing, but
walking openly in their wolfish natures.
Ver. 4. “Where is", —Implying that it is nowhere; it has passed
away and disappeared.
“promise", —That made by Jesus in the Gospels and especially the
promise in Acts 1.11.
“his", —They did not use the name of Christ because of their disdain
for His name, say some. (Fr. Wi. Hof. Gerh.)
The question shows how familiar the subject was among everybody
in that day.
“fathers", —The first generation of Christian believers received the
promise and lived in the hope of its sure and speedy fulfillment. They
died without witnessing it, and this would be used as an argument with
their children for discrediting the promise itself. (D. Fr. Hu. Sal. Hof.
Thi. Hes.)
Wiesinger refers the word to the Old Testament patriarchs, but the
fact that they died before the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord's
return would be a strange argument for these mockers to urge against the
Christian hope.
Wiesinger argues that the time element will not permit our interpre¬
tation; but this was written in A. D. 67, and then it must be remembered
that Peter is speaking from the standpoint of the last times, some little time
at least in the future.
“as they were", —Better, “as they are". The meaning is well ex¬
pressed as follows, “Ever since the death of our fathers to whom the
promise was given, things have continued as we now see them and as they
always have continued even from the beginning of the creation." (A. Fr.
Sal.) The fact that the scoffers would ask such a question shows that the
people of that time expected by reason of some great manifestation or
world disturbance to know when Christ came. This is a strong argument
against the Millennial Dawn teaching of His unobserved coming, and that
only gradually will it dawn upon the world that He is here when once
He does come.
Ver. 5. “For", —Introducing the reason for their making such a
statement as that in verse 4.
“wilfully forget", —Shut their own eyes. Some authorities refer the
word “this" to the assertion of the preceding verse and give to “wilfully"
the meaning of “asserting", and read, “For, asserting this, they forget",
etc. But this gives a most unusual sense to the word “wilfully", and
nearly all commentators hold to the rendering of the Revised Version.
529
II PETER
"from of old”, —From the first origin of all things.
"compacted”, —i. e., brought together, made solid, “consisting of”,
as in the Authorized Version of Col. 1,7.
"by the word of God”, —Not of its own will, not by a fortuitous
concurrence of atoms, but as in the record of the Word of God.
Our rendering, "compacted”, looks to the water as the material "out
of” which the earth was made, and the meaning of the word is strongly in
favor of this, the Revised Version reading. (A. Hu. Sal.)
The Authorized Version reads “standing" for "compacted”, and so
makes the earth rise up "out of” the water in which it lay buried. (B. Wi.
Win. Hof. Schot.)
Ver. 6. Peter shows that the world was once destroyed and that
therefore the assertion that it had continued as it was from the beginning
of creation was not true.
"perished”, —This means, not that it was annihilated, but that it lost
its form and substance as a world; reduced to another form and state.
"by which means”, —These words are to be explained in one or the
other of three different ways:
1. They may refer to the "heavens” and the "earth”, the heavens
opened and the fountains of the earth broken up to cause the
destruction. (Fr. Hof. Bez. Oec. Wol. Horn, Steinf.)
Some of these authorities take "the world that then was” as the
world of living creatures and some take it as the material system
which perished by means of the very things by which it consisted,
while still others combine the two, which last is certainly, if the
view under consideration is accepted, the proper way to take the
expression.
2. They may refer to "water” and "the word of God”, i. e., the
seemingly constant order of things perished through the agents that
first formed it. (Wi. Bes. Bru. Sal. Gerh.) With this view it is
also best to take "the world that then was” as the whole order of
things, the earth with men and other living creatures occupying it.
3. They may refer to "water” alone, out of which and through
which the heavens opened and the fountains of the deep broke up.
"The world that then was” is, under this view, to be taken in
the same way as that preferred above. (A. C. Hu. Lum. Pott,
and the majority.)
These views are all equally substantial. The third view makes the
flow of thought a bit easier than the others, while the reference in the next
verse to the word of God again, "by the same word”, seems to favor the
second view.
Ver. 7. 'Vor fire”, —Some would have this modify "reserved” (A.
Hu. Fr. Bru.), but with others we prefer the arrangement of our text.
(Wi. Sal. Hof. Schot.) Why should anyone think that Peter got this idea
of the destruction of heaven and earth by fire from Greek or Stoic philos¬
ophy or Oriental mythology when the Old Testament is full of it, and
the more especially since it was promised that the world would not again
be destroyed by water, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah would
naturally be taken by him as a type of the future judgment of the world.
530
II PETER
Ver. 8. This is not a second refutation of the scoffers but a removal
of an obstacle which believers might find in the delay of Christ's coming.
As he quotes from Psalm 90, the "Lord” here is not to be referred to
t Christ, but to the Lord of the Psalms, Jehovah, God.
Says Stier, "He who created the heavens and the earth in six days
l because He thus willed it, may also suddenly accomplish in one day that
1 which under other circumstances would require a thousand years; in like
i manner He may ordain thousands of years to be to the world week-days
i and work-days before His great Sabbath begins to dawn."
Ver. 9. God's purpose in the delay concerning the promise of the
coming again of Christ is a gracious one.
"some”, —The reference here, we feel, is primarily to believers of
i weak faith (Fr. Hu. Sal.), and not to the scoffers (A.), although of course
these are still in his mind.
"as some consider slackness ",—i. e., as some consider it to be, namely.
His delay.
Ver. 10. "shall come”, —This is placed at the head of the sentence
for emphasis. He will come in spite of the delay and of the assertion of
the scoffers.
"as a thief”, —The idea is that of unexpected suddenness rather than
that of dread.
"day of the Lord”, —The Lord here, as throughout the passage, is
evidently not Christ but God as in verse 1 2.
"a great noise”, —The better translation is "a rushing sound". The
word has in it the idea of whirring, whizzing motion as well as of sound.
De Wette refers it to the crash with which the heavens shall fall, and
Oecumenius to the actual noise of the flames. The writer probably thinks
of both.
"elements”, —The reference here is doubtless to the heavenly bodies,
Ithe constituent elements making up the heavens. The word means the
icomponent parts which make up a thing, and while it is true that wherever
else used in Scripture it has an ethical sense, it has in Peter clearly a physical
isense, and it seems best to take it here in a broad sense as applying to the
iparts of which the heavens in particular, or the system of things generally,
are made up, and it doubtless denotes much the same as "the powers of the
i heavens” in Matt. 24.29, the idea being that these heavens shall pass away
•by having their constituent parts dissolved.
It will not do to think of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water
(Be.), nor just "earth, air and water”, because fire would not be repre¬
sented as being consumed by fire (Horn), nor yet as "air and water" (Es.) .
"with fervent heat”, —The word is a participle which means "being
scorched up" and properly belongs with "elements” , but the Revised Ver¬
sion rendering gives the right thought exactly and may be allowed to
remain.
"works”, —The works of God and man, nature and art. (B. Wi.
Fr. Die. Bru. Schot.) It is not merely man’s works (Ros. Hof. Steinf.),
nor yet merely God's work, the earth and the fullness thereof (Hu.), nor
is it to be taken only as the wicked works of man after I Cor. 3.1 5.
531
II PETER
“burned up", —It is true that " burned up" is difficult to account for,
the best manuscript authority being in favor of the marginal reading,
“discovered’', and this reading is supposed by the latest scholarship to have
arisen from a corruption of another, which would mean “shall flow (or
melt) away”. The wide variety of readings is a witness to the early
uncertainty of the text. One manuscript reads, “shall disappear"; one
version inserts a “not”, and reads “shall not be found”.
If the word “discovered” be retained, the sense would likely be.
“found out judicially” or “made to appear as they are”. Some turn it
into a question, “Shall the earth and the works therein be found then?”,
i. e., shall they continue? There is, however, no uncertainty whatever as
to the sense that is meant to be conveyed.
1 1 Seeing that these things are thus
all to be dissolved, what manner of per¬
sons ought ye to be in all holy living
and godliness, 12 looking for and Earn¬
estly desiring the 2 coming of the day of
God, by reason of which the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
“elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 But, according to his promise, we
look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye
look for these things, give diligence that
ye may be found in peace, without spot
and blameless in his sight. 15 And
account that the longsuffering of our
J Or, hastening
3 Gr. presence
a Or, heavenly bodies
Lord is salvation; even as our beloved
brother Paul also, according to the wis¬
dom given to him, wrote unto you; 16
as also in all his epistles, speaking in
them of these things; wherein are some
things hard to be understood, which the
ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they
do also the other scriptures, unto their
own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, be¬
loved, knowing these things beforehand,
beware lest, being carried away with the
error of the wicked, ye fall from your
own stedfastness. 18 But grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the
glory both now and 4 for ever. Amen.
4 Gr. unto the day of eternity
Vers. 11-18. HASTENING THE COMING OF THE DAY OF THE LORD.
Ver. 11. “ these things", —Not merely the works, but all the things
before mentioned.
"to be dissolved ",—This is the present of certainty (A. Hu. Fr.).
and not “are dissolving”, are now in process of dissolution, as Salmon
puts it.
“what wanner", etc., —Beginning with these words the Revised
Version takes all the words to the end of verse 12 as a question. The
arrangement of the words in the Revised Version cannot be improved
upon, but it is more in accord with usage to take the whole expression as a
solemn declaration in an exclamatory sense. (Hu. Sal. Hof.)
Ver. 12. " earnestly desiring", —The passages quoted in support of
this rendering by the Revised Version really do not support it at all. They
all mean to prosecute with zeal something that is present. We are inclined
most strongly to the marginal reading of the Revised Version and to the
text of the Authorized, “hastening”, i. e., hurry on. (A. B. D. Wi. Hu.
Fr. Era. Hof. Sal.) The idea is that of accelerating the advent of that
day by our holy lives and our labors for the advancement of the Gospel.
"the cowing (presence—Parousia) of the day of God", —This ex¬
pression is found only here and this is the only place where we read of the
Parousia of a day, it being commonly used of a person, and usually of
the presence or advent of the Lord Himself.
532
II PETER
Lachmann says that Peter had given up the hope of Christ’s return,
and mixed it up with God's future day of judgment. This is sheer non¬
sense. Peter treats of the coming of Christ in other places in his writings.
The term, “day of God”, ought not to surprise us if we have due respect
to teaching of the Old Testament.
“by reason of which”, —i. e., by reason of the day of God.
“fervent heat”, —As in verse 10.
“melt”, —There is no gainsaying the fact that the word means
"melt” in the most literal sense, although De Wette says the meaning is
not to be literally pressed. Alford on the other hand says, "Why not?”
and refers to the liquefaction that has actually taken place in the crust of
the earth wherever the central fires have acted upon it. He asks, "Why
should not that day, in its purifying process, produce a similar effect on
the earth again?”
In spite of the strong expressions used by the writer, it is not decid¬
edly stated that the world is to be dissolved into nothing, and the passage
cannot be said to finally settle the dispute as to whether annihilation or
transformation is in the writer’s mind, whether the dissolution refers to
substance or to quality. Salmon has said very aptly that the use to be
made of the passage must be a very guarded one, so far as theorizing about
the nature of the end is concerned. He says that Peter is speaking in terms
of the lofty imagery of the Old Testament. The idea is not annihilation,
says Alford, but change. (Wor. Sal.)
Ver. 13. “his promise ”,—God’s promise in the Old Testament.
(Isa. 65.17; 66.22.)
Ver. 14. “found ”,—i. e., at His coming.
“in peace”, —With God and man and one’s self.
Ver. 15. The delay is not slackness but longsuffering, which is to
be valued as “salvation”, that is in the sense of the suspension of judgment
with a view to a prolonged offer of grace.
“wrote unto you”, —Doubtless in the First Epistle to the Thessa-
lonians, although there is a great diversity of opinion as to what writing
Peter actually refers to,
Ver. 16. “these things”, —i. e., the things of the Second Coming
of the Lord about which Peter had been talking, the things of the end. Of
course those who contend that the “even as” of verse 15 does not refer to
the things of which Peter had just been discoursing, the Day of the Lord,
must refer “these things” to something else, i. e., doctrines of justification
and so forth.
“wherein”, —If it were not for the form of the pronoun this would
naturally refer to “these sayings”, thus affirming the truth that in the
teaching concerning the Second Coming of Christ there are some things
hard to be understood, but the form of the pronoun as used compels the
connection of “wherein” with “epistles”.
“other scriptures” ,—referring doubtless to other New Testament
writings.
533
I JOHN
Ver. 17. “before hand ",—The announcement of which things had
occupied practically the whole of the chapter he had just written.
Ver. 18. “forever”, —The literal of the expression is "to the day of
eternity,—the day which shall dawn at the end of time and itself know
no end". The word ”eternity " is literally "aeon", and the expression
literally translated means, "unto the day of the aeon", and is found only
here.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF
JOHN
(A. D. 90)
CHAPTER TWO
the antichrist, even he that denieth the
Father and Son.
28 And now, my little children, abide
in him; that, if he shall be manifested,
we may have boldness, and not be
ashamed l before him at his 'coming.
’Gr. from him
2 Gr. fresence
Vers. 18 , 22 , 28 . The Spirit of the Antichrist Defined.
Ver. 18. “it is the last hoar”, —The expression plainly refers in
some sense to the last period of the world.
Yet it is not "the last dispensation", i. e., from Christ’s first coming
in grace to His Second Coming in judgment (C. D. Be. Sa. Aug. Bez. Luc.
Wol. Nea.), because:
1. This idea is unsuited to the context.
2. Verses 8 and 17 and especially verse 28 show that it is the Second
Coming of Christ that he has in mind.
3. The sign “whereby we know” proves the reference to be to the
last part of the dispensation in which John was living.
4. The fact of many antichrists being already in existence corre¬
sponds well with the prophecy given by the Lord which plainly
referred to the last days of the present dispensation and to which
John here no doubt has reference.
With these reasons and with the view that John referred to the last
days of the dispensation in which he was living many of the best exposi¬
tors agree. (A. Ba. My. Er. Eb. Hu. Nea. Luc. Ger.) (See A. and Hu.
in loco.)
The reference is not therefore to the last hour of John’s life (B.), nor
of the Apostolic age (Ste.), nor of the Judean nation, the time immedi¬
ately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. (Li. So. Me. Ham. Gro.)
Dusterdieck refers “the last hoar” to the destruction of Jerusalem as open¬
ing the period of judgment which shall precede the end and the length of
534
18 Little children, it is the last hour;
and as ye heard that antichrist cometh,
even now have there arisen many anti¬
christs.
22 Who is the liar but he that de¬
nieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is
I JOHN
which is nowhere laid down. But this leaves uncertain that of which the
Apostle speaks of with certainty.
These different explanations arise from the desire to acquit John of
making a mistake as to the nearness of the time of the Parousia. But
John speaks as did the other Apostles and as we might well speak today.
"as ye heard”, —i. e., from the preaching of the Apostles, from John
and especially from Paul.
"cometh”, —This is a present tense used in the sense of a fixed cer¬
tainty.
"antichrist”, —The word may mean either "against Christ" or "in¬
stead of Christ”, i. e., a false Christ. The decision cannot rest on philol¬
ogy alone, but the context shows plainly that John used the word in a
sense antagonistic to Christ, and this is now commonly recognized.
A false Christ is not necessarily a willful enemy of Christ. The man
himself may be deceived. John was acquainted with the Greek for "false
Christ", but he chose not to use it. He used "antichrist” , showing plainly
that he meant the idea of enmity to be read in the word. Furthermore, in
the Greek Fathers we do not find a trace of the idea of "false Christ" in
Antichrist, but it is always the thought of antagonism that is emphasized.
"many antichrists”, —Grotius says there are the false Christs prophe¬
sied by Christ Himself in Matthew, and refers them to the false Christs
prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, the chief of whom was Barchochebas,
whom Grotius declares to have been the Antichrist. But the false Christs
of our verse went out from the Christian Church ("out from us” —verse
19), which those to whom Grotius refers, being Jews, most assuredly did
not do; and furthermore, what would the nearness of the destruction of
Jerusalem, viewed as a Jewish event, have to do with the subject of this
Epistle of John?
These antichrists in John’s time were the heretical teachers who had
gone out from the Church, who were clothed with the attributes, had the
spirit of and were the forerunners of the coming personal Antichrist. Does
John in this verse mean to say that the Antichrist is already here, i. e.,
in a collective sense, being in fact the aggregate of these many antichrists?
In other words, is the Antichrist collective or is he personal?
1. Since the antichrists are personal so must the Antichrist be.
2. Christ and Antichrist stand over against each other and if one is
personal the law of analogy requires that the other should be
personal also.
3. Chap. 4.3 does not say that the spirit then prevalent was Anti¬
christ, but it says that it is the spirit of Antichrist, and in this place
the article "the” is used before Antichrist.
4. The present of fixed certainty (cometh), as referred to Antichrist
is set over against "have arisen” and "is”, as referred to the anti¬
christs, showing that there is a distinction between the Antichrist
who is to come and the many antichrists who have already come.
The word "antichrist” is found only in the Epistles of John. "Al¬
most all commentators", says Huther, "have correctly supposed that John
understands by this enemy the same as Paul speaks of in II Thess. 2.3,
the features which appear in the description of the Apostle Paul and in the
533
I JOHN
statements of John corresponding too closely to admit of this being
denied."
Ver. 22. " who is the liar ?",—The "the" should not be omitted as
in the Authorized Version. It refers to the preceding lie of verse 21 as
embodied in concrete form in the Antichrist. John certainly has the par¬
ticular lie of the antichrists of his time in view, and the "liar" and the
"antichrist" are identical.
"this" ,—i. e., the liar just described.
"denieth the Father and the Son", —This is a clause of more particu
lar definition, stating the full, unhappy consequence of that antichristian
lie. Therefore the denial that Jesus is the Christ is in its very essence a
denial of the Father and the Son.
Antichrist is obviously here not used as predicating the one person
in whom the character shall be finally and centrally realized, but as setting
forth the identity of character with him and participation in the sanv
development of the antichristian principle.
Ver. 28. "that, if he shall be manifested", —There is no intimation
in this clause of the time or the nearness of His coming. The particle "if"
marks reality rather than time, and has been correctly substituted for the
"when" of the Authorized Version. Of course in view of John’s thought
concerning the nearness of the expected return of the Lord, it is doubtless
true that this was in his mind as he wrote the words of our verse, although
it will not do to draw this information out of this verse taken in itself.
"shall be manifested", —This manifestation of Christ is His Parousia
which is to take place at the end of the "last hour". It is the same word as
that used of His manifestation in the flesh at His first coming. (Chap.
3.5,8.)
"his coming", —Parousia,—presence; it is only this once that the
word is found in John.
"The ‘if’ in this verse", says Morgan, "casts no doubt upon His
appearing, but is indicative of His coming at any time. In the words,
'boldness' and 'ashamed', an alternative possibility is suggested as to the
attitude of Christians at that coming. They may have ' boldness 1 or they
may 'be ashamed '. 'Boldness' suggests the freedom of speech that comes
of the perfect familiarity of friendship; there will be no embarrassment and
awkwardness of speech arising from the constraint of being strangers to
Him. The root meaning of the word 'ashamed' is ‘disgraced’, so that it is
allowable to read, ‘and not be disgraced from (the preposition is ‘apo’)
Him at His coming'. This is not addressed to the outside world, but to
believers in Christ. In that verse there is a very clear division which, to
my mind, answers the question as to whether believers may not pass
through the great tribulation. Some will be ready to enjoy freedom of
access to Christ and familiarity with Him; but the ‘ little children' of God
who have been living only in the elements of the world will be disgraced
at His appearing."
536
I JOHN
CHAPTER THREE
2 Beloved, now are we children of
God. and it is not yet made manifest
what we shall be. We know that if J he
shall be manifested, we shall be like
’Or, it
him; for we shall see him even as he is.
3 And every one that hath this hope
set on him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure.
Vers. 2,3. PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF THE BELIEVER'S BLESSED HOPE.
Ver. 2. “is not yet”, —We have here a past tense and the more
forceful reading is "has not yet".
"made manifest”, —It is not the knowledge of what we shall be that
is to be manifested (Eb.), but the future condition itself that is meant, i. e.,
shown forth in reality. (A. Hu. Dus. Bra.)
“if he shall be manifested”, —The majority read "it" for “he”, and
consequently make “like him” and “see him” and “he is” (all of this
verse) and “on him” and “he is” of verse 3 refer to God. (A. B. D. Hu.
So. Ep. Sp. Lu. Sa. Ba. Bra. Oec. Lut. Ben. Ros. Nea. Dus. Schli.)
Grammatically this seems the better view and the translation would
then call for the following, “What we shall be has not yet been made mani¬
fest, but we know that if it (what we shall be) is made manifest, we shall
be like him”, i. e. f like God.
But in spite of all arguments this does not agree with the context, and
inasmuch as it is just as grammatical to supply “he”, and inasmuch as
the thing John is talking about is not primarily that we are the children of
God, but the significance of the coming of Christ (Chap. 2.28), we are led
with others to read “he” and refer the same to Christ, and so throughout.
(C. Be. Ar. Es. Ca. Wh. Sy. Bez. Hor. Mor. Sem., the Tyndall and Cran-
mer versions, the Authorized Version and all Revised versions.)
“for”, —The meaning may be made somewhat clearer by translating
"because". It may mean either (1) that we are quite sure we shall be
like Him, from the very fact that we are to see Him (C. Ri. My. So. Hu.
Mor. Schm. Pope), or (2) that seeing Him will cause us to be like Him
(D. A. B-C. Sp. Eb. Nea. Dus. Kos. Bra. Wei.)
Pope says, "The final glorification into the image of Christ is never
said to be the result of seeing that image; but conversely, likeness to Him is
the preparation for seeing Him." Therefore because we shall see Him we
know that we must and will be like Him. (See II Cor. 3.18.)
On the other hand, Alford says the “for” or the "because" contains
the real cause and ground of that which follows, and that therefore the
seeing Him as He is is not merely a proof that we shall be like Him, but
we shall be like Him because we shall see Him face to face.
Campbell Morgan says, "It seems to me that this transformation must
first take place; and the fact that I am to see Him is the proof that I shall
be like Him. If my vision of Christ on the resurrection morning is to be
the cause of my transformation, the presupposition is that I shall not be
changed until I look at Him, and that therefore my first view of Him will
be in my unchanged condition. This is, in some respects, a beautiful
thought, but incorrect, as I think. I believe we shall be changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye; and that when changed by the power
of God, we shall look at Christ. Almost all who have any right to deal
537
I JOHN
with the original tongue lean to this exposition rather than to the other.”
To this explanation we incline.
Ver. 3. “this hope”, —i. e., the hope of being like Him.
"purifieth himself”, —This self-purification does not spring out of
the nature of man; the will to do it lies in this hope, and therefore it is
the expression of his spiritual state as worked out in him through the Holy
Spirit of God.
CHAPTER FOUR
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 and every spirit that Confesseth not
'Some ancient authorities read annulleth
Jesus
Jesus is not of God: and this is the
spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it cometh: and now it is in
the world already.
Vers. 2,3. The Spirit of the Antichrist Already in the World.
Ver. 2. “the Spirit of God”, —The Holy Spirit, as is evident from
the expression itself and from its antithesis to the Antichrist.
“confesseth”, —Oral confession with the mouth is meant. That the
life may agree with the profession is not implied in the expression, although
as Braune says, "Only a confession with the mouth emanating from the
faith of the heart under the influence of the indwelling Spirit of God can
be meant."
“in the flesh”, —If this does not directly assert the Incarnation it
certainly implies it. (A. D. Lu. Hu. Dus. Bra.)
Ver. 3. “Jesus”, —The reference here is to the historical Christ in
the complex of all that He is and has become, involved as it is in His having
come in the flesh.
The particular negative particle used is one that denotes not only
denial, but contradiction as well.
“this”, —i. e., this spirit.
Practically all commentators agree with our text in supplying “spirit”
and thus the meaning is, "and this spirit is the spirit of the Antichrist.”
Very strangely some refer “this” to the previous denial, the refusal to
confess, and so supply "matter" or "nature" instead of “spirit” and make
it the "antichristian nature" that is referred to. (Hu. Ep. Val. May.)
But this is decidedly uncalled for and subverts the real sense of the passage.
“have heard ",—This refers doubtless to the previous instructions
they had received, and not to Chap. 2.18.
“it is in the world already”, —By “it” is meant the spirit of the Anti¬
christ. It is in the world in the person of these false prophets. John does
not say that the Antichrist is already in the world but only that the spirit
of the Antichrist is already in the world.
The word “already” is added doubtless not alone to intensify the
“now” but to point to the future time when the personal Antichrist is to
appear, for which appearing the world is already being made ready.
538
JUDE
SECOND EPISTLE OF
JOHN
7 For many deceivers are gone forth
into the world; even they that confess
not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh.
This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Ver. 7. The First Coming of Christ Denied.
"deceivers”, —i. e., false teachers.
"are gone forth”, —The expression in itself does not denote separ¬
ation from the Church, but inasmuch as the verb is in the past tense, the
"from us” of John's First Epistle 2.19, is doubtless in his mind.
"confess not”, —The same negative is used and with the same
meaning as in I John 4.3, on which passage see remark.
"cometh in the flesh”, —Oecumenius wrongly interprets, "is to come",
taking it as a future participle and referring it to the Second Coming of
Christ, but it is to be taken exactly as in John's First Epistle in Chap. 4.2,
except that here the present participle is used which expresses the idea in
itself altogether apart from the idea of time. (A. D. Lu. Sa. Hu. Dus.
Bra.)
"this”, —i. e., the one who denies and does not confess. It points
to a class, making each one of these in its place a representative and pre¬
cursor of the one coming Antichrist.
Braune says, "The Antichrist is personally behind the many who are
his forerunners. From ‘deceivers to ‘deceiver is plurality expressed in
unity; it is a transition from the plural to the distributive singular."
The word "antichrist” with which the verse closes gives prominence
to a further characteristic of the deceiver.
THE EPISTLE OF
JUDE
(A. D. 66)
6 And angels that kept not their own
principality, but left their proper habita¬
tion, he hath kept in everlasting bonds
under darkness unto the judgment of
the great day.
Ver. 6. The Fallen Angels Reserved unto the Day of Final
Judgment.
Ver. 6. "their 6ton principality”, —i. e., the one originally assigned
to them. Most of the best expositors rightly translate with our text (A.
B. D. Hu. Wi. PI. An. Hof. Bra. Schot.), although many (C. Lut. Gro.
539
JUDE
Bez. Hor. Era.) approve the rendering of the Authorized Version, “first
estate”, i. e., original condition.
“their proper habitation", —i. e., heaven, or whatever habitation of
light may have been assigned to them.
“under darkness", —i. e., in the depths of the underworld, in the
abyss, covered over with darkness.
“unto the judgment of the great day ",—This is the last and final
judgment day for which they are kept, taking place at the end of the world,
doubtless at the same time with the judgment upon Satan just prior to that
upon the wicked in general.
Scofield says, “The 'great day is the day of the Lord (Isa. 2.9-22)”,
The day of the Lord, then, according to Scofield extends from the Second
Coming of Christ on through the Millennium period, as Morgan and
others also maintain.
Just to what sin reference is here to be had is not known.
We are inclined to think it is to that to which vague reference is made
in Gen. 6.2, and that Jude got his more particular information from th<
Book of Enoch. (A. K. Hu. PI. Die. Del. Hof. Kur. Jus. Cyp.)
Others say that Gen. 6.2 refers to the marriage of the Sethites to the
descendants of Cain, and that the sin referred to in Jude is that of the first
fall in the realm of the spirits, namely, the revolt of Satan and his angels.
(F. C. An. Es. Fr. Ph. Af. Bra. Mel. Lut. Hor. Eph. Hen. and writers of
the Middle ages in general.) (I John 3.8,10.)
The second view is adopted on the ground that it is doubtful whether
Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch, that the first view is inconsistent with
what we are elsewhere in Scripture taught of the angelic nature. But
when this view is taken there seems to be a conflict with the other teachings
of the New Testament where we are told that Satan and his angels have
their residence in the air, exercising power over unbelievers and laying
snares for believers. This is reconciled by the supporters of this view by
saying that Satan’s continued activity is by special permission from God,
or by saying, as others do, that although they do inhabit the air near this
earth of ours they may well be said to be chained or kept in everlasting
bonds because they are restrained from recovering the glory and happiness
they have lost.
The arguments in favor of the first view are the difficulty just men
tioned, the fact that the references in the Book of Enoch are too many and
too extended and too plain not to be reckoned with, the similarity of Ian-
guage as seen especially in the expression, "the judgment of the great day ".
all pointing to a reference of Jude to Enoch or of both to some common
source, and finally the expression, "in like manner with these", in verse
7 without doubt refers to these angels and therefore distinctly puts the sins
mentioned in both verses in practically the same class. If this view is
adopted the passage is at once relieved of all difficulty because only a special
class of angels are then included in Jude's passage.
14 And to these also Enoch, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,
Behold, the Lord came with *ten thou¬
sands of his holy ones. 15 to execute
’Gr. his holy myriads
judgment upon all. and to convict all
the ungodly of all their works of
ungodliness which they have ungodly
wrought, and of all the hard things
540
JUDE
which ungodly sinners have spoken
against him. 16 These are murmurers,
complainers. walking after their lusts
(and their mouth speaketh great swell¬
ing ivords), showing respect of persons
for the sake of advantage.
1 7 But ye, beloved, remember ye the
words which have been spoken before
by the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ; 18 that they said to you. In
the last time there shall be mockers,
walking after ’their own ungodly lusts.
19 These are they who make separa¬
tions 'sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up your¬
selves on your most holy faith, praying
in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life.
: Gr. their own lusts oj ungodlinesses
3 Or, natural Or, animal
Vers. 14-21. Judgment upon Apostate Teachers at the Coming
of the Lord.
Ver. 14, “And to these”, —This rendering of our text is better
than that of the Authorized Version, “of these”, or “with reference to
these”, as many take it. These latter renderings spoken in Jude's day
could give the prophecy’s fulfillment a restrospective character, while the
rendering of our text spoken to them of Enoch’s time could throw it ages
into the future.
“Enoch, the seventh from Adam”, —i. e., counting Adam the first
and Enoch the seventh. He is so designated several times in the Book of
Enoch.
To Adam was given the promise of the first advent of our Lord as
Saviour; to Enoch was given the first promise of His second advent as
Judge. Stier says that Enoch is a personal type of the sanctified of the
seventh age of the world, the great earth Sabbath, the seventh millennium.
“the Lord came”, —The tense is past because Enoch speaks in a vision
in which the future appears to him as present. It is what scholars call “the
historic sense of prophecy’’, or “the prophetic past”.
“ten thousands of His holy ones”, —The Greek is “his holy myriads”.
The terms include, as Riddle says, “not only angels but redeemed men.”
The prophecy here quoted is found almost verbally in the Book of
Enoch. Jude must at all events have known of the tradition of Enoch’s
prophecy and considered it true as to its kernel, even if he did not have
the Book of Enoch before him.
Ver. 15. “to execute judgment”, —i. e., to pronounce the doom and
to see that it is carried out. Thus the coming of the Lord with His
angels and His saints is here clearly shown to be a coming for judgment.
Ver. 17. The reference in this verse is to that of simple priority.
The idea of the prophetical does not lie in the words. Jude here doubtless
refers to such passages as II Tim. 3.1; Acts 20.29,30; I Tim. 4.1; II
Pet. 3.3.
Ver. 18. “In the last time”, —Meyer says the time in view here is
that just prior to the second coming of Christ, and similar to this is Alford’s
:omment, “the last age of the Church”. (See II Pet. 3.3 and our exegesis
there.) There is here a glance backward to what was said in verse 15 as to
the characteristic quality of the works there brought into view.
Ver. 21. “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ ”,—
'looking for” here points to the future, and the “mercy” therefore is that
541
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
by which Christ will glorify Himself in His saints in His great day, the
mercy which He will show at His second coming. (A. M. Hu.)
"unto eternal life", —This phrase may be connected with "mercy"
(D.), or with "keep yourselves" (Hu.), or with "looking for" (B.),
while Alford connects it with both of the last two.
24 Now unto him that is able to
guard you from stumbling, and to set
you before the presence of his glory
without blemish in exceeding joy,
Ver. 24. The Joyful Presentation of the Believer Before the
Throne of Christ at His Coming.
"before the presence of his glory", —The reference is to the special
manifestation which will take place in connection with His Parousia.
“The glory", says Alford, “being that which shall be revealed when
the Son of man shall come."
This verse taken in connection with Eph. 5.25-27; Col. 1.22; 1
Thess. 3.13, is taken by David Brown as proof that when Christ comes
the Church will be complete and that therefore after His coming there
can be no salvation for any others who at that time may be as yet unsaved.
Whether this be true or not, the fact of its being so can hardly, on the basis
of sound exegesis, be drawn from these passages, unless several other things
can be shown to be true in connection with it, namely:
1. That the word "Church" as used in Eph. 5.25-27 can be shown
to denote the total number of those who are to be saved;
2. That the Scriptures clearly prove that there can never be in the
future more than one manifestation of Christ as it relates to this
earth; and
3. That this presentation is to take place immediately upon Christ’s
return. And even if this latter point could be established, unless
the other two can be equally established, the presentation of the
saints in question could be associated with the first manifestation
quite as properly as with any later ones. The arguments pro¬
duced by Dr. Brown at this point are not at all convincing.
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
(A. D. 96)
CHAPTER ONE
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God ‘gave him to show unto his
Servants, even the things which must
shortly come to pass: and he sent and
signified Vf by his angel unto his servant
’Or, gave unto him, to show unto his ser¬
vants the things &c.
3 Gr. bondservants
•Or, them
John; 2 who bare witness of the word
of God. and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, even of all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they
that hear the words of the prophecy.
542
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
and keep the things that are written
therein: for the time is at hand.
4 John to the seven churches that are
in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from
him who is and who was and 4 who is
to come; and from the seven Spirits that
are before his throne; 5 and from Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, the
firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of
the kings of the earth. Unto him that
loveth us, and ‘loosed us from our sins
e by his blood; 6 and he made us to be
a kingdom, to be priests unto T his God
and Father; to him be the glory and the
dominion *for ever and ever . Amen.
7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds;
4 Or, who cometh
5 Many authorities, some ancient, read washed.
Heb. 9.14; comp. Chap. 7.14
e Gr. in
’Or, God and his Father
®Gr. nnto the ages of the ages. Many ancient
authorities omit of the ages
and every eye shall see him, and they
that pierced him; and all the tribes of
the earth shall mourn over him. Even
so. Amen.
8 I am the Alpha and the Omega,
saith the Lord God, e who is and who
was and 4 who is to come, the Almighty.
9 I John, your brother and partaker
with you in the tribulation and king¬
dom and l0 patience which are in Jesus,
was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the
Lord’s day. and I heard behind me a
great voice, as of a trimpet.
®Or, he who
10 Or, stedfastness
Vers. 1-10. The Coming OF THE LORD THE THEME OF THE REVE
LATION.
Ver. 1. “The revelation of Jesus Christ", —This is not a revelation
of which Jesus is the object, as Seiss maintains, but one of which He is the
subject or author. (A. L. F. Eb.) It is not a revelation about Jesus
Christ by someone else, but a revelation which Jesus Christ Himself gives.
It is not John’s revelation, but Christ's. It is made to us all, to all of
Christ's “servants' through John, either from Christ Himself or an angel
on His behalf.
"must", —i. e., by necessity of divine decree.
“shortly come to pass", —There are three views of this phrase:
1. It refers to the swiftness with which the things prophesied will
take place when they do occur, without any reference to their
nearness or remoteness, i. e., in swift succession. (L. Eb.)
2. It refers to the speedy coming of what is to happen. (Dus. Hen.)
3. It means “before long”, according to the method of computation
of Him with whom 1000 years are as one day, and does not
therefore necessarily mean near at hand as we compute nearness.
(A. F. D. V. Wol.)
The first view is hardly consistent with the past tense of the verb
“come to pass", nor with the context, nor with the closing clause of verse
3, nor especially with Chap. 22.7 where Christ Himself, speaking through
His angel and using the same Greek words, says, “I come quickly ".
The second view cannot be accepted, as it attributes not alone to John
but also to Christ, who uses the same word in Chap. 22.7, the teaching
that His second coming was quite near according to our conception of
nearness.
The third view is therefore the one to which we are necessarily
driven. It is after all but a modification of view 2. It is God's speedy
time in the same sense as in Luke 18.7,8 where delay is evidently implied.
Among the things which “must shortly come to pass" are events after
a millennium period of a thousand years more or less and events beyond
543
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
that are mentioned in the book, and consequently it must have embraced
considerable time in its whole content. The expression is therefore most
appropriately taken as a prophetic formula to teach us how short our
time and the time of the world really is in comparison with time as it
stretches out in the vision of God.
Though the time is near, we are told to wait patiently for it, both
explicitly (Chaps. 1; 13.10; 14.12) and by the very organism and content
of the book, as well as by the succession of the seals which shows that
many intermediate events must first elapse, says Fausset. This reference
to the seals, however, has weight only if we think of them as succeeding
each other and occurring in the history of the world from the time John
had his vision on down through the centuries, the so-called Historical view.
“his angel ”,—Lange’s explanation of the angelic appearance through¬
out the book, of "Christ appearing in the quality of an angel", will not
do, as Chap. 22.9 clearly proves. If the angel of our verse refers to one
definite angel, some see here a difficulty in that he does not appear as
revelator until Chap. 17.1, and that other personages performed this office
in the meantime. It would seem, however, that the expositors are creating
a difficulty for themselves. The angel voice of verse 10 is followed in
verse 1 1 by the voice of Christ who opens the revelation. In Chap. 4.1
the angel of verse 10 speaks again; in Chap. 6.1 it is the four living
creatures who speak; in Chap. 7.13 it is one of the twenty-four elders; in
Chap. 10.8,9 it is the Lord and another angel; in Chaps. 17.1; 21.9 and
22.1,6 it is one of the seven angels who speaks, which angel it would seem,
according to Chap. 22.6, is the same as the angel of our verse, and with
whom we see no objection whatever to identifying the angel of Chap. 1.10.
Ver. 3. “the time is at hand”, —The word for “time” as used here
is "kairos", which always expresses a fixed or expected point of time, a
season or certain period of time. "Kronos" means time in general.
“at hand ”,—To be explained in the same sense as “shortly come
to pass” of verse 1.
Ver. 4. “which is and which was and which is to come”, —This
reference to God the Father is a paraphrase of the name Jehovah implying
His unchangeableness, His immutability. It is the Father as distinguished
from Christ who is here meant.
Instead of “which is to come” we would have expected "which shall
be" as more in keeping with the other two verbs, but inasmuch as the
Father and the Son are one, there is a sense in which it may be said of the
Father that He too is to come, and for this reason perhaps the phrase
“which is to come” was used. The idea, however, of a future coming
of God Himself as contained in the last part of the clause is not to be
pressed. To God the present, the past and the future are one and the
same eternal now.
“seven spirits”, —The Holy Spirit in His own complete fullness and
diverse activities (Isa. 11.21) ; sevenfold in His operations, the author and
the giver not only of seven but of all spiritual gifts, seven being the number
of perfection and denoting multiplicity.
Ver. 5. “faithful witness” (John 18.37). He faithfully made
known all that He had heard of the Father and testified always to the
544
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
truth concerning Himself even before Pilate and in the hour of death.
The reference is to His general mission, although there is no good reason
for not extending it to the attestation of the apocalyptic truth about to
be revealed.
"the first begotten of the dead”, —Lazarus rose to die again; Christ
rose to die no more. The resurrection is a birth.
4, the ruler of the kings of the earth”, —This He is in a sense now,
but He will especially prove Himself to be so in the judgment at His advent.
Lange says, "Now dynamically ruling over the kings of the earth,
and destined in the end to prevail over the antichristian powers also,
He works on and on until His appearance as the King proper."
Ver. 6. 4, made us to be a kingdom”, —All that can be legitimately
maintained here is that the redeemed are the kingdom of God in the sense
that they are the subjects of it and the blessed sharers in it. (E. D. Eb.
Dus.) The royal sovereignty of believers is hardly taught in this verse,
according to the best attested reading, This truth is brought out in Chap.
5.10 where we have the fact clearly set forth that in this kingdom the
saints reign. Hengstenberg and some others insist that the word <4 king-
dom” even here carries with it in conjunction with the word 44 us” the
idea of "a people invested with kingly power", i. e., kings. But gram¬
matically this is scarcely tenable. The reading ,4 for us” would give this
meaning, but it is not well enough attested.
“priests”, —The distinction of priests and people, nearer and more
remote from God, has ceased and all people have nearest access to God,
come immediately to God, offer their prayers and give themselves to Him
in holy service. A similar idea appears in Chap. 21.22 where the new
Jerusalem appears without a temple.
4, unto Him”, —i. e., unto Jesus Christ.
Ver. 7. The theme of the Apocalypse.
“he”, —i. e., Jesus Christ.
44 cometh with the clouds” ,— (See Acts 1.9.11). Whether on them or
in them is not expressed. It is a coming to judgment. While the clouds
are symbolic (a symbol of wrath) they are nevertheless real, the clouds
of heaven. Among the later Jews the Messiah is actually called the
"Cloud Man". It is the coming " with His saints r \ after the Great Tribu¬
lation, that is here meant.
44 every eye shall see him”, —If the coming of Christ with His saints is
to occur after the Millennium, this expression is best understood of the
whole human race, all the risen, both good and bad, as well as those then
living.
In this case “they that pierced him”, —which is a singling out from
the more general group of a special class, may refer either
1. to all who pierced Him in all ages by their rejection of Him, the
then living rejectors being present at His coming and the rejectors
then dead being raised to appear with them in judgment; or
2. to the Jews who actually did pierce Him, being then risen to meet
Him in judgment (Dus.) ; or, preferably,
3. to the persons referred to by Christ in Matt. 26.64, i. e., those
who were His murderers whether the Jews who delivered Him
545
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
to be crucified or the Romans who actually inflicted His death.
(A.)
If this coming of Christ is to take place before the Millennium, this
expression, “every eye shall see him”, must refer to all save the wicked
dead. This will be true whether the Church goes through the Great
Tribulation or not, although in the latter case the righteous dead, having
been raised, will have been “caught up” with the living but transformed
Church, and so will come with the Lord when He returns at the time when
“every eye shall see him”. In this case “they that pierced him” must
refer either to the living wicked in general, or preferably to the Jewish
nation in particular then living, and perhaps as well to the Romans, as the
representatives of those who actually did the work of delivery and cruci¬
fixion. The post-millennial view affords the simpler explanation of the
verse, although it may be explained quite as consistently from the view¬
point of the pre-millennialist.
“all the tribes of the earth shall mourn", —Practically all are agreed
that this is the fulfillment of Zech. 12.10, and the prophecy is without
doubt an allusion to Matt. 24.30 in which place the mourning is dis¬
tinctly stated to be “immediately after the tribulation days“.
It has been said with certain propriety, "The mourning is both
hostile and penitential; the hostile by the unrepentant wicked in fear of
impending consequences; the penitential especially by the then penitent
Jews, and even by the holiest saint because of his sins which had once
pierced his Lord." (B. A. F.) The reference, however, in this quota¬
tion to the mourning of the “holiest saint" can be approved only on the
supposition that the Church is on earth at this coming and has not been
previously “caught up",
Dusterdieck limits the mourning to the unrepentant wicked, the un¬
converted for whom the day of repentance was then past, while Faussct
says that the antichristian confederacy will mourn in discomfiture at His
pre-millennial advent, and all the unconverted at the general judgment.
Ver. 8. Here the eternal Father speaks. Seiss claims it is Christ
Himself who is here speaking, and who here formally proclaims Himself
to be the very God, the Almighty. It is, however, by no means necessary
to take this position, though Christ is indeed all this and virtually so
asserts in verses 17 and 18, and perhaps in Chap. 22.13. The reference
of the words of our verse to God Himself seems the more natural one. (A.
L. Dus.)
“is to come", — (See verse 1).
Ver. 10. "on the Lord's day ",—It was on the Lord's day when
John got his instructions to write. Seiss says this was the “day of the
Lord" at the end of the age, the so-called “seven years’ or “last week" of
Daniel's “seventy weeks". The evidence, however, for this view we hold
is hardly sufficient, and the “Lord's day" is rightly taken by nearly all as
the first day of the week and is to be referred to the time in which John
was living and writing.
19 Write therefore the things which
thou sawest, and the things which are,
and the things which shall come to pass
hereafter;
546
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Ver. 19. THE THREEFOLD NATURAL DIVISION OF THE BOOK OF
Revelation.
"the things which thou sawest”, —i. e., the vision just vouchsafed
to him.
i
"the things which are ",—By many this expression is rendered, "what
they (the things thou sawest) signify". (A. D. Ew. Bl. Kl. Ar. Hei. Her.
Ale. Eic.)
Alford calls attention to the fact that the verb of the last clause is
singular while that of this clause is plural. But this is hardly of sufficient
weight to decide the case for this rendering although grammatically it is a
possible one. Neither is the antithesis of the next clause favorable to
this view.
Adhering to the text of our version we still have two explanations of
the words:
1. That which refers to the state of things in the churches when John
was writing, as seen in the contents of Chaps. 2 and 3. (B. L.
F. V. Zu. Eb. Ly. Ca. Lap. Are. Luc. Dus. Hen. Wol. Gro.)
2. That which takes them in the prophetic sense as portraying the
course of the Church from the time of John on down to the end
of this age, the time of our Lord's return. (Gab. Sco. Mor.)
Morgan says, "The words reveal progress, good or bad, in Church
life and movement. We find both Laodicean and Philadelphian churches
now. 'The things which are* exist in the present dispensation." It would
seem, however, from the simplest reading of the words that the view which
refers them more especially to the conditions existing in the time of John's
vision is the more prefefable one.
Scofield has some interesting remarks just here, and remarks that are
worthy of consideration. He says, "The messages to the seven churches
have a fourfold application: (1) Local, to the churches actually addressed;
(2) admonitory, to all churches in all time as tests by which they may
discern their true spiritual state in the sight of God; (3) personal, in the
exhortations to him 'that hath an ear', and in the promises f to him that
overcometh'; (4) prophetic, as disclosing seven phases of the spiritual
history of the Church from, say, A. D. 96 to the end. It is incredible
that in a prophecy covering the church period there should be no such
foreview. These messages must contain that foreview if it is in the book
at all. for no church is mentioned after Chap. 3.22. Again, these mes¬
sages by their very terms go beyond the local assemblies mentioned. Most
conclusively of all, these messages do present an exact foreview of the
spiritual history of the Church, and in this precise order."
"the things which shall be hereafter ",—These words refer without
doubt to the things symbolically represented in Chaps. 4 to 22. The
time referred to is either (1) the period after the time in which John wrote
extending on into the future from' that time to the general judgment at
the end (A. E.), which view is known as the Historical View; or (2) it is,
according to the prophetic view of Morgan and others, the so-called seven
year period, which they place immediately after the rapture of the saints
and just before the Millennium, together with the time which extends on
to the general judgment at the end, which view is known as the Futurist
View.
547
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
The literal of the words is, “the things which shall be after these
things", “these things' referring to “the things which are " in the previous
clause. It is somewhat to be regretted that our text did not retain the
more literal translation, "after these things", instead of “hereafter". It
must be admitted that the most natural inference from the words is that
which refers their content to what transpired immediately afterwards and
on down through the ages, while many of our best Greek scholars would
have us believe that the words, “after these things " (pexa xauxa), carry
with them always the idea of "immediately"; but this must not be pressed
too vigorously and must be determined somewhat by the contents of the
vision.
Says Elliott, "The subject matter I assume to be the continuous for¬
tunes of the Church and of the world (that is of the Roman world and
the Christian Church settled therein) from the time of the revelation being
given, or the time of St. John’s banishment, to the end of all things. If
the words, ' these things' mean the state at that time of the apocalyptic
churches, as described in the seven epistles—a point which, I suppose, few
will doubt—then must Christ’s declaration distinctly and all but neces¬
sarily imply that the foreshadowing of the future should begin from the
time of John's banishment, or soon thereafter. This is indeed admitted
by the most competent judges. I believe the words must have positive
violence done them in order to extract therefrom any other meaning than
that which I have given to them."
CHAPTER TWO
The reference in verses 5 and 15 are not to Christ's second coming
but to His coming in special judgment to the church of Ephesus and of
Pergamum. The expression, “the second death" in verse 11. is a descrip¬
tion of damnation; it is the Gehenna of Matt. 5.29; Mk. 9.43-49 and
Lu. 12.15. It is defined in Chap. 20.14 as “the lake of fire".
25 Nevertheless that which ye have,
hold fast till I come. 26 And he that
overcometh, and he that keepeth my
works unto the end, to him will I give
authority over the Nations: 27 and he
’Or, Gen files
shall rule them with a rod of : iron, as
the vessels of the potter are broken to
shivers; as I also have received of my
Father: 28 and I will give him the
morning star.
2 Or, iron; as vessels of the potter, are they
broken
Vers. 25-28. The Saints to Reign and Rule with Christ.
Vcr. 25. “that which ye have", —This is not to be restricted to
their steadfastness against Jezebel and her teaching, but it refers to Chris¬
tian doctrine, hope and privilege in general. (Jude 3.1.c.)
“hold fast till / come" ,—The expression in Greek by the use of the
particle "av" gives an uncertainty to the time of the Second Coming which
our language cannot express.
Ver. 26. “my works", —i. e., in contrast with “her works" (verse
22) ; the works which Christ commands.
“to him will / give authority over the nations", —It is rightly said
that this refers to the authority to be conferred on the saints when they
shall inherit the earth and reign with Christ in His kingdom. (M. F. Dus.
Crav.) Says Fausset, "At Christ’s Second Coming the saints shall possess
548
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the kingdom under the whole heaven and therefore over this earth", and,
says Dusterdieck, "The victor is to share in the work of establishing the
kingdom at the coming of the Lord."
Some would have us believe that this authority is being gradually
realized but shall only at the Second Coming find its full realization.
(A. L.) The natural reference of the words, however, hardly seems to
favor this modification; and besides the power of the Christian over the
world now is hardly that of the “iron sceptre”, the power of government.
Ver. 27. “he shall rule them”, —Literally, "shepherd them".
“a rod of iron”, —i. e. f "a sceptre of severity", as Lyra says. The
sense is then, "He shall shepherd them with a rod of iron" instead of "He
shall break them to pieces with a rod of iron" as in the Hebrew of Psalm
2.9. The Septuagint translation made the change by slightly altering
the Hebrew word, and John quotes the Septuagint perhaps with the
thought of mingling mercy with judgment; "severity first, that grace may
come afterward", says Fausset. That, however, severity is the chief idea
is seen both in the expression, “rod of iron” and the parallel expression,
“broken to shivers”.
“broken to shivers”, —This is because they fail to answer the design
of the maker, the act being of course a spiritual one.
“as I also”, — (See Psalm 2.9). The power there conferred on Christ
He will share with His victorious servant. (Lu. 22.29.)
Ver. 28. “And I will give him the morning star”, —Thi^ does not
refer to "the glorified body of Christ" (Ly.), nor to "the Devil" (Are.
And.) (Isa. 14.12), nor to "a share in my kingdom at its first appearance"
(Tait). It refers either to Christ Himself (V. Eb. Be. Kl. Ca. Lap. Wol.
Plu. Prim. Stern.), or to the heavenly glory with which the victor is to be
endowed (Dan. 12.3; Matt. 13.42; I Cor. 15.40). (A. D. Ar. Gro. Hen.
Dus.) While neither of these quite satisfy the words “give to him”, yet of
the two the latter is to be preferred as referring by way of poetic imagery
to him as clad in the glory of that star, putting it on, as it were, as a jewel
or as a glittering robe.
CHAPTER THREE
“I will come as a thief”, in verse 3, is not a reference to His Second
Coming yet it is expressed in language which in its fullest sense describes
His Second Coming. (A. F. L. Dus.) It is a reference to a coming in
special judgment, as in Chap. 2.5 and 16.
10 Because thou didst keep the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of 'trial, that hour which
is to come upon the whole "world, 4 to
try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 I come quickly: hold fast that
which thou hast, that no one take thy
crown. 1 2 He that overcometh, I will
’Or, stedjastness
7 Or, temftation
3 Gr. inhabited earth
4 Or, temft
make him a pillar in the "temple of my
God, and he shall go out thence no
more; and I will write upon him the
name of my God, and the name of the
city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven
from my God, and mine own new
name.
°Or, sanctuary.
Vers. 10-12. The Faithful to be Kept from the Hour of Trial.
Ver. 10, “I will also keep thee from the hour of trial”, —Some
549
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
authorities restrict this promise to this church of Philadelphia alone as a
special exception (B. Eb. Ei.) ; but this is an altogether arbitrary assump¬
tion exhibiting an exegetical helplessness at all times to be discouraged.
"keep thee from", —The precise meaning of the preposition “from”
is not altogether clear. In the Greek it is “ek" and means primarily “out
of”. Thus Paul speaks of attaining unto the “ek-resurrection of the
dead”, i. e., the resurrection “out of" or “out from among" the dead.
“the hour of trial ”,—
1. This expression may refer to the period known as the Great Tribu¬
lation, mentioned by our Lord in Matt. 24.21 and by Peter in
his first epistle, Chap. 4.12. (F. A. L. Dus. Hen. Mor. Sco. Gab.
Crav.)
The definite article “the” used in the Greek in connection with it
seems to favor this view, i. e,, the hour, the well-known hour.
(a) Now if the Church is caught up before the Great Tribulation
occurs this fact furnishes an answer as to how they were to
be “kept from” this time of trial. (Mor. Gab. Tor. Sco.
Pet. Bla., and most pre-millennarians of the present time.)
“There is no way to escape from it", says Blackstone, “but to
be taken out of the world by the Rapture, in as much as the
Great Tribulation covers the whole habitable earth." This
view, however, if accepted, must rest for its vindication upon
other evidence than that furnished by the verse before us.
Dusterdieck contends that if this were the idea, the preposi¬
tion “apo" would have been used as in James 1.27. But this
distinction between the two prepositions is somewhat exag¬
gerated by our author and cannot be pressed, inasmuch as
the idea of exemption, or being taken away from, may, so
far as the preposition is concerned, be with propriety attached
to our passage as well as to the one in James. Dusterdieck
appeals to Rev. 7.14, but there the matter is decided by the
meaning of the verb itself.
ib) If the Church is not caught up until after the Great Tribula¬
tion and consequently is to go through this period of trial,
then the meaning here is “to deliver out of" in the sense of
bringing safely through the trials they will be called upon
to endure, just as in John 17.15, where the same preposition
is used and the meaning is without doubt “to pass un¬
scathed through the evil." (F. V. L. D. Zu. Ew. Ly. Hen.
Dus.) We have in the Old Testament an historical example
which furnishes us at least a reasonable surmise of what
might be true here, namely, that just as the Israelites were
kept from the plagues in whose midst they lived, so may
the believer during the days of the Great Tribulation be safe¬
guarded therein and thus kept from the trials that shall come
upon them that dwell upon the earth.
2. The expression is taken by some, who conceive of the Church
being caught up before the Great Tribulation, as referring to a
period of severe conflicts of faith through which the Church must
pass just before the Great Tribulation. (Moorehead.)
550
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Such authorities take the second view just noted, namely that of
being safeguarded during the time of these trials, and in defense
of which Moorehead presents four arguments:
(a) The word "trial” seems deliberately chosen to distinguish
the period from the Great Tribulation.
(b) The natural and obvious meaning, as well as the use of the
preposition "ek" favors the idea of safeguarding in the
midst of the trial.
(c) The use of the same preposition in and the evident meaning
of John 17.15 seems almost decisive in the matter.
(d) The explanation is confirmed by the words that follow,
"Behold / come quickly; hold fast that which thou hast, that
no one take thy crown”. “Christ lays upon them the respon¬
sibility of vigilance, of continual effort. Philadelphia, no
less than the others, is to be in the trial, but kept safely in
it, not raptured away before the trial begins/’
"to try them that dwell upon the earth”, —This expression, as a
rule, refers to the mass of men in contradistinction to believers, as in Chaps.
8.13 and 13.8, and this agrees nicely with the view just expressed above.
If, however, the expression be taken to include all men (and this, of
course, must be considered as allowable), then the words "keep thee from”
are better explained in harmony with the thought of Dusterdieck, the trial
bringing out the fidelity of those who are Christ’s and are kept by Him
(Chap. 7.3), and hardening the unbelieving reprobates. (Chaps. 9.20,21
and 16.11,12.)
Ver. 11. "I come quickly”, —“A constantly recurring announce¬
ment designed for the awakening and terrifying of the foes and for the
consolation and elevation pf the pious”, says Lange.
"hold fast that which thou hast”, —The reference here is not only
to the grace especially mentioned in verse 10, but in general to whatever
of grace and truth and piety they possessed.
"that no man take thy crown”, —Not that another could secure it
for himself, but that in the time of trial you might by inconstancy lose it.
Ver. 12. "the new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven”,
— (See Chap. 21.2,3).
Ver. 21. "to sit down with me in my throne”, —This grandest and
crowning blessing is not made especially to correspond to the special great¬
ness of the victory to be gained by the Laodiceans (Eb.), but rather be¬
cause coming at the end of the letters it is natural that such a promise should
be expressed as would gather all the promises into one.
This promise is not to be regarded as partially fulfilled in this life.
The aorist tense of the verb points to a final and complete act. Then
too the example of Christ, "as I overcame and sat down” forbids such a
conception. It means to have a share with Christ in His kingly glory
and power (Chaps. 2.27 and 20.6), and must refer to something still in
the future.
It is impossible to tell from this verse alone whether a distinction is
here to be made between the throne of God and the throne of Christ. As
531
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the words stand here it would seem that such a distinction is tenable, and
to this view of the matter'we are inclined. Some say that the thrones are
different and that Christ's peculiar throne is to be set up over the whole
earth at His Second Coming, and that in this the victorious saints shall
share. (F. Ca. Sco. Gab. Mor.) This seems to be in keeping with Matt.
19.28; Lu. 1.32,33; Acts 2.30,34,35; 15.14,15,16. Chap. 21.1, how¬
ever, seems to identify these thrones, and so it is taken by some. (L. A.
Dus.)
CHAPTER FOUR
At Chapter Four begins the revelation proper, the third division of
the book, “the things which shall come to pass hereafter”. John is caught
up by the Spirit into heaven, which means that he is now in a trance or in
a heavenly ecstacy and is given a vision of the judgments which are to
come upon the earth. Before these judgments are related we have in
Chaps. 4 and 5 the heavenly scenery described which furnished the local
grounds for the visions.
1 After these things I saw, and be¬
hold, a door opened in heaven, and the
first voice that I heard, a voice as of a
trumpet speaking with me, one saying,
Come up hither, and I will show thee
the things which must 'come to pass
hereafter. 2 Straightway I was in the
Spirit: and behold, there was a throne
set in heaven, and one sitting upon the
throne: 3 and he that sat was to look
upon like a jasper stone and a sardius:
and there was a rainbow round about
the throne, like an emerald to look
upon. 4 And round about the throne
were four and twenty thrones: and upon
the thrones I saw four and twenty elders
sitting, arrayed in white garments: and
on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And
out of the throne proceed lightnings and
voices and thunders. And there were
seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne, which are the seven Spirits of
God; 6 and before the throne, as it
were a *sea of glass like unto crystal:
and in the midst 3 of the throne, and
round about the throne, four living
creatures full of eyes before and behind.
J Or, come to fuss. After these things
straightivay &c.
*Or, glassy sea
3 Or, before. See Chap. 7.17, Comp. 5.6
Vers. 1-11. The Vision of the Throne.
Ver. 1. “after these things ”, —i. e., after Christ had gotten through
dictating to John the letters to the seven churches, or, after John had
gotten through writing these letters. The second view would indicate a
break in the vision. Some prefer this because of the fact that he “was tn
the Spirit” in Chap. 1.10 and the fact that here again in verse 2 it says
he was “immediately in the Spirit” inclines them to believe that he had
come out of the Spirit and had written the letters to the churches and then
7 And the first creature u;as like a lion,
and the second creature like a calf, and
the third creature had a face as of a
man. and the fourth creature was like a
flying eagle. 8 And the four living
creatures, having each one of them six
wings, are full of eyes round about and
within: and they have no rest day and
night, saying,
Holy. holy, holy, is the Lord God,
the Almighty, who was and who is
and 4 who is to come.
9 And when the living creatures shall
give glory and honor and thanks to
him that sitteth on the throne, to him
that liveth 5 for ever and ever. 10 the
four and twenty elders shall fall down
before him that sitteth on the throne,
and shall worship him that liveth e for
ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns
before the throne, saying.
1 1 Worthy art thou, our Lord and our
God, to receive the glory and the
honor and the power: for thou didst
create all things, and because of thy
will they were, and were created.
4 Or, tv ho comet It
’Gr. unto the ages of the ages
552
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
went into another trance. (G. Ar. Cr. Ca. Gro. Hen.) We think it,
however, better with the majority not to see any break in the vision at this
point, but to conceive of the whole as imparted in one vision, one continu¬
ous revelation composed of many parts.
The phrase therefore, " after these things”, denotes merely the tran¬
sition from one part of the vision to another—it marks the succession of
the visions and not of time.
“I saw”, —i. e., with the eye of ecstatic vision.
" a door opened in heaven”, —It is not that heaven is to be regarded
as the house of God where He is enthroned (Dus.), nor as a temple (V.
Zu.), nor as a firm arch (Hei.), but the “door” is that through which
John is caught up by the Spirit into heaven. (A. L. F. D. Gro.)
Nor does it mean that John saw the door open. It is a perfect parti¬
ciple; the door was “standing open".
“the first voice that I heard”, —i. e., the voice of Chap. 1.10. The
voice is not to be thought of as God's (Lap.), nor hardly as the voice of
Christ (L. S. Ew. Hen.), inasmuch as the voice in Chap. 1.10 was fol¬
lowed by Christ’s voice, not as a trumpet but as the sound of many waters.
It is doubtless the voice of an angel. (A. F. Eb. Dus.) If, however, we
take it to be the voice of an angel it is not to be thought of as an angel
speaking in the person of Christ (Ly.), nor as the voice of an unknown
angel (A. F. Dus.), but rather as that of the angel of Chap. 1.1. Against
this identification we can see no valid objection whatever.
“Come up hither”, —i. e., through the opened door.
Scofield says, “This call seems clearly to indicate the fulfillment of
I Thess. 4.14-17. The word 'church ' does not occur again in the Reve¬
lation."
“The whole book of Revelation", says Torrey, “after Chap. 4.1
has to do with the time after the rapture of the Church." Thus prac¬
tically all who belong to the Futurist School of interpretation.
Alford, on the other hand, says, “I cannot regard the futurist scheme
with approval. The seven seals, trumpets and vials run on to the time
close upon the end. Any scheme-of interpretation which does not recog¬
nize this common ending of the three seems to me to be thereby‘convicted
of error." (See under Chap. 6 a discussion of the various methods of
interpretation.)
“hereafter”, —Literally, “after these", i. e., after “the things that are”
(Chap. 1.19), and to be interpreted accordingly as we take the expression,
“the things that are”. (See Chap. 1.19.)
Ver. 2. “I was in the Spirit”, —i. e., in a trance or ecstacy. (See
Chap. 1.10.)
“a throne set in heaven”, —It does not mean that the setting or plac¬
ing of it there formed part of the vision. The word “set” is literally
“lay". We best express it by the English word “stood".
“one sitting”, —The eternal Father. (F. A. L. B. V. AI. Gro. Wet.
Hen. Dus. Stern.) He is not named because John simply describes what
he saw and as he saw it. For the same reason he did not expressly name
Christ in Chap. 1.13.
553
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Ver. 3. " a jasper stone and a sardius", —A description symbolic of
the glory of God.
"a rainbow round about the throne", —“The brightness of His glory
and the fire of His judgment is ever girded by and found within the refresh¬
ment and surety of His mercy and goodness”, says Alford.
Ver. 4. "four and twenty elders", —If these are redeemed human
beings, they are not to be taken as representative of the entire assembly of
the ministers of the Word, pastors of the New Testament Church (V.
Ca.), nor are they to be taken as representing the Christian martyrs (Eic.) ;
they are rather, if redeemed human beings, the representatives of the entire
people of God, the Church generally. (A. Sw. Dus. Sei. Mil. Vau. Moor.)
This is the usually accepted view. Their designation, their robes, their
crowns and their employment, and especially their redemption (especially
if "us" is the right word to be supplied in Chap. 5.9) seem to favor this
view.
Ludhardt says the true reading of Chap. 5.10 is "them" and that this
distinguishes these elders from redeemed men, and so he objects to the view
just given. He says it is the heavenly council of unfallen spirits represent¬
ing the hosts of God in heaven. (See Craven in Lange.) There is much
to be said in favor of Ludhardt’s view, although it is impossible to be
absolutely certain one way or the other, in as much as the weight of
evidence on each side is about equal. Happily the decision one way or
the other does not affect the interpretation of the general content of the
book. Craven thinks the view of Ludhardt gives a unity to the heavenly
scene not found in any other view, especially if the four living creatures
are to be taken as unfallen heavenly spirits, personal non-human beings
who are executors of the will of God.
However, even if the reading "them" be accepted (as it evidently
must be) the inference of Ludhardt does not necessarily follow. They
could include themselves even though they used the pronoun “them”, the
use of this pronoun being a mark of modesty, just as is often seen in the
use of language today. Inasmuch as the proper reading and determination of
the writer’s thought in Chap. 5.9,10 has much to do with the true explan¬
ation of the twenty-four elders, it is fitting to discuss the same at this point.
The Authorized Version has "redeemed us" in verse 9 and "made us"
in verse 10. It would seem that the same persons must be referred to in
each instance.
But the "us" in verse 10 must be replaced it seems by “them” accord¬
ing to the manuscripts K. A. B., and it is so taken by practically all. (B.
R-V. W-H. Ti. Gri. Syr. Vul. Lach. Copt.) This would seem to call for
the deletion of "us" in verse 9, for which in fact there is no word in the
original text, and it is accordingly omitted by the majority (A. L. R-V.
Ti. Wor. Lach.), and in its place is supplied the word “men”, inasmuch as
some word harmonizing with "them" of verse 10 must seemingly at least
be supplied.
The Authorized Version follows nB'P, all of which have the word
"us" in the original of verse 9, and this reading is followed by some
authorities. (Tre. Vul. Sei.) Seiss is insistent that the "us" be retained,
setting forth the fact that Tregellius argued for it even before N was
discovered, and that certainly with this added evidence in its favor there
554
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
can be no doubt as to its place in the text. But even with N in its favor,
the "us” is hardly sufficiently well attested to claim for itself a place in
the original, and with the "them" of verse 10, for which the weight of
manuscript authority so preponderates, it does not appear how "us” could
be used consistently in verse 9.
Although we would expect "us” in both places, if the elders are
representatives of human beings, let it be noted once more that by the use
of "men” in verse 9 and "them” in verse 10, they do not necessarily ex¬
clude themselves from the redemption, but, as Fausset says, it may be taken
as a Hebrew construction of the third person for the first and as giving a
more modest sound than "us”. There is really no need for any word to
be expressed in verse 9. For similar construction see Matt. 25.8; I John
4.13.
While Craven accepts the view which is held well nigh universally by
commentators, namely, that the elders are representatives of the glorified
Church, redeemed human beings, he suggests that inasmuch as the omis¬
sion of "us” in verse 9 and the rendering "them” in verse 10 releases us
from the necessity of including the elders among the redeemed, it might be
better to take them as the princes of the heavenly host, unfallen spirits, as
Ludhardt does. He says:
1. The doxology was raised in view of the general fact of redemp¬
tion and not of the personal redemption of those who united in it,
and it furnishes no evidence that any who united in it were them¬
selves the subjects of it.
2. Apart from this doxology there is no evidence that the elders were
in any way connected with the Church, while everything else in
Revelation seems to point to the contrary. Although they are
mentioned several times it is never as representing the redeemed or
being among them or joining in their hallelujahs.
(a'l If there are any specially favored among the redeemed and
glorified saints they ought to be found among the martyrs,
but while the elders are on the thrones the martyrs are
beneath the altar.
(b) When the great multitude in Chap. 7.9 stood before the
throne and raised their hallelujahs, the elders were not with
them but were with the living beings and the angels, offering
a separate worship and uniting in a separate hymn of praise.
In speaking to the Seer about that glorified throng one of the
elders spoke of “them" and not of "us”, spoke not as one of
their number but as a mere spectator of their glory.
(c) In Chap. 11.15-18 when the elders and four living beings
burst forth in a doxology because the Kingdom of the Mes¬
siah was fully established on the earth, they made no allusion
to any personal participation in the rewards that were to be
bestowed on the saints.
(d) When the Lamb stood with the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, the
elders and the four living beings stood apart from the throne,
and the song of the redeemed was sung before , not by them.
As representatives of glorified humanity they should have
been among the 144,000.
555
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
In reply to Craven it may be said that inasmuch as the 144,000 and;
other groups in question may quite as properly refer to special classes of
the glorified it does not at all become necessary that the elders be included
among them. This fact together with the fact that the use of "men" and:
the pronoun “them" in Chap. 5.9 and 10 does not necessarily exclude the
elders from those redeemed, and the significance of their designation, their
robes, their crowns, the number and finally their employment will incline
one perhaps to abide by the old and preponderant view which takes these
elders as representatives of the glorified Church. Thus L. A. V. R. Sw.
Hen. Dus. Sei. Gab. Sco. Eic. Mil. Vau. Bos. Cal. Dean, Gebh. Moor.
These elders, however, cannot be the totality of the redeemed already
raised up and glorified, because the souls of the martyrs, certainly the
noblest part of the redeemed, are seen beneath the altar as disembodied
spirits having had as yet no resurrection nor reward, and other martyrs
are to follow these. (Chap. 6.11.) Perhaps the most discriminating ex¬
planation is that given by Swete, who says, “The twenty-four elders are
the Church in its totality, but the Church idealized and therefore seen as
already clad in white, crowned, and enthroned in the divine presence—a
state yet future, but already potentially realized in the resurrection and
ascension of the Head."
While retaining the old and accepted view, we repeat that no serious
objection can be registered against the view of Ludhardt, which Craven
suggests for consideration, namely that we have in these twenty-four elders
representatives not of the glorified Church, but the heavenly council, com¬
posed of the representatives of the hosts of God in heaven—oF unfallen
spirits.
From the wording of Chap. 5.9,10 according to the Authorized
Version, it would seem that the four living beings as well as the elders
joined in the song about their redemption. But this is rendered dubious
by the fact that the anthem is sung to the music of the harps and the harps
are the property only of the elders.
As to why there are twenty-four elders it is useless to speculate. Ot
the many surmises only two are worthy of any consideration:
1. It is derived from the order of the priests. As the twenty-four
priests are but one course out of 24,000 (I Chron. 23.3,4), so
these twenty-four crowned priests wearing white robes are the
representatives of many thousands upon thousands. (F. V. Al.
Ca. Ze. Ew. Hil. Eic. Sei.)
Some object to this because these elders are not priests as seen in
Chap. 5.8, their occupation being simply connected with their
representative character. (A. Dus.)
2. The other and usually accepted explanation is that they represent
the Old Testament and the New Testament Church—the twelve
patriarchs and the twelve apostles, not in their personal but in
their representative character: and so in Chap. 15.3 the conquer¬
ors sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and in Chap. 21.12
the names of the twelve tribes and of the twelve Apostles are
inscribed on the gates and on the foundation respectively of the
New Jerusalem. (Mil.)
The white robes signify purity and the crowns kingly authority.
They imply conflict and endurance and strongly argue for the twenty-four
556
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
ciders being redeemed human beings, though not conclusively by any
means.
Ver. 5. “lightnings and voices and thunders", —Showing forth
God's omnipotence particularly as exercised in judgment and wrath which
is about to proceed from the throne. (A. Sei. Dus. Bar. Hen.)
“seven lamps of fire burning before the throne", —The Holy Spirit
in His seven-fold operation as the light and life giver and fiery purifier of
the Godly and the consumer of the ungodly. (A. F.)
Ver. 6. “as it were a sea of glass like unto crystal", —It is of course
impossible to be absolutely sure of the interpretation of this as well as of
many other symbols of this book. Many explanations are mere guesses.
Calovius thinks the glassy sea is a symbol of baptism; Joachim, of the
Holy Scriptures; Alexander, of repentance; Bullinger, of the present transi¬
tory world; Hengstenberg, of the judgments of God. Dusterdieck and
Ludhardt say it is identical with the river of life in Chap. 22; but this is
untenable inasmuch as the vision in Chap. 22 is quite distinct from
this and each has its own propriety in detail.
Others say it is symbolic of the glorified Church, calm and peaceful
in contrast to the turbulent sea representing the mass of nations in their
ungodly state (L. Eb. Ar. Kl. Wor. Gro.), while Vitringa says it repre¬
sents the basis of righteousness and grace whereon the throne of God is
founded.
Others say it is the clear ether in which the throne of God is upborne,
in front of the throne to separate it from John and all else, and signifying
the purity and calmness and majesty of God’s rule. (A. F. D.)
Dusterdieck objects to this view as well as to that of Vitringa because
the sea is not beneath the throne but before it; but this objection is by no
means a formidable one inasmuch as it could be beneath it and before
it at the same time. Our decision is perhaps best found among the last
three views and of these the view of Alford, Fausset and De Wette is not
only the simplest but it is the least open to objection and is more in keeping
with the earlier usage in the Old Testament. (See Ezek. 1.22 and Ex.
24.10,11.)
It is almost universally admitted that John did not look upon the
real heaven but that the scenes he beheld were symbolical. But were they?
A symbol is an image; either—
1. Material,—as for instance the bread and the wine, symbolic of
the body and blood of Christ.
2. Visional,—an appearance, as beheld in ecstatic vision or trance.
In respect to their relation to the object symbolized they may be
divided as follows:
1. Immediate,—representing without further medium the object
contemplated, as a visional image of heaven, angels, etc.
2. Mediate,—representing the object through the medium of some
other object, as when Christ is represented through the visional
image of a lamb.
The four living creatures are generally admitted to be Mediate sym¬
bols. They are identical with the Cherubim of the Old Testament (Ezekiel
557
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
1.5-10 and 10.20), although certain differences are traceable. If they
are symbols there is not the slightest intimation given in the Word of God
as to what they symbolize. All we have is the pure imagination of the
commentators. Someone has aptly said, “They are the sphinx of the
Bible."
The following are some of the explanations:
1. The four Gospels. (Vic.)
2. The four elements. (Al.)
3. The four principal angels. (Lap.)
4. The four cardinal virtues. (Ar.)
5. The four faculties of the soul.
6. The four principal attributes of God. (St.)
7. The four greatest fathers of the Church.
8. The four fundamental forms of divine government. (L.)
9. The four patriarchal churches, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria
and Constantinople. (Ly.)
10. The four great Apostles, Peter, James, Matthew and Paul. (Gro.)
Others mention other Apostles.
1 1. The four great events in redemption, Incarnation, Passion, Resur¬
rection and Ascension. (Ar.)
12. The four representatives of the New Testament Church, as were
the four standards of the four chief tribes of the Old Testament
Church. (Me.)
1 3. Glorified saints who have been raised to special eminence. (Lord.)
14. The ministers of the Church on earth. (Dau.)
1 5. All the ministers and teachers of the Church in every age. (V.)
16. Saints who are to attend Jehovah as assessors in the judgment.
(Ham.)
17. The Church militant. (E.)
18. The Church triumphant. (Bush.)
19. The creative power of God. (Eb.)
20. Animated creation. (A. D. B. Dus. Hen. Rei. Vau.) “We have
thus", says Alford, "the throne of God surrounded by His
Church and by His animated world, the former represented by the
elders and the latter by the four living beings."
21. They are not symbols at all, but personal non-human ministers
of the throne. (Crav.)
View number 1 is the oldest and was at one time almost universally
accepted and for this reason some moderns are again taking it up. It is
really not the Gospels that are symbolized but the evangelists, and that
not as expressing their personal character, but the personal character of
Christ,—in Matthew, the lion as representing his royalty: in Mark, the ox,
as representing his patience; in Luke, the man, as representing his brotherly
sympathy; in John, the eagle, as representing his soaring majesty, etc. But
not one of the Gospels, with perhaps the exception of the last one, has any
substantial accord with the character thus assigned. This is seen in the
558
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
fact that each one of the living beings has been assigned by different
scholars to each of the four Gospels.
Now if the four living beings in the doxology of Chap. 5.9,1 0 spoke
of themselves as redeemed by the blood of Christ, then they must be human
beings, and so must be symbolic of redeemed individuals. But the reading
“us" of the Authorized Version is far from being certain. Indeed it is
quite certain that the reading “them" of the Revised Version is the correct
one (see discussion en loco ), and therefore it is not necessary to think of
them as human beings at all. In either case, however, it is not clear that
they joined in the doxology with the twenty-four elders. There are rea¬
sons for believing they did not.
On the ground that they were not human beings the views of Alford
and of Lange are perhaps the most worthy of serious attention; but of the
two, that of Alford suits better the setting and the context, i. e., that they
are representatives of animated nature,—the animal life of the world.
But even if they are not human they may still be persona/. The best
way to clarify the subject is to see what the same " living beings" (the
cherubim) of the Old Testament stood for. They stood no doubt as
executors of the will of the One on the throne. (See Ezekiel 1.) And so
here too the simplest and most consistent explanation is to see in the living
beings personal ministers of the divine government. As such they are not
symbols at all. Therefore:
I. Taken as non-personal beings they may best be considered as sym¬
bols or representatives of animated nature. (A. B. Dus.) There
is much to be said in favor of this view. (See Craven in Lange.)
II. Taken as personal beings they are either:
1. Personal human beings, and as such they are symbols either of,
(a) The redeemed in general, the redeemed, glorified Church.
(F.) But this seems quite too indefinite to jneet the
requirements of the vision, and would confuse them
with the twenty-four elders in case these latter are taken
to represent the redeemed Church.
(b) A certain pre-eminent class of the eclectic resurrection
and translation saints who serve as executors while the
elders serve more as counselors. (Sei. Mor.)
Says Morgan, “The living creatures mark the inner
circle of the Church, which God has selected, elected,
chosen, and which Jesus is coming to gather unto Him¬
self."
But this is rather far-fetched and a bit too fanciful.
2. Personal non-human beings, i. e., unfallen heavenly spirits who
are the personal ministers of the throne of God; and so not
symbols at all. To this view we strongly incline.
Of course the forms they assume are symbolic,—the lion for cour¬
age, boldness and victorious strength; the ox for patience, industry, endur¬
ance and sacrifice; the man for human sympathy, and the eagle for soaring
aspiration, contemplation and striving after the ideal.
Milligan and others, however, say that the qualities represented are
those that strike terror, i. e., the ferocity of the lion, the power and
559
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
rage of the ox ("bull-calf") , and the eagle hastening vulture-like to his
prey. They are vice-generals of God; the assessors of the throne.
"in the midst round about", —Not that they moved round about in
the midst of a transparent throne (Eb.), nor ‘"under as supporting it" (Ew.
Hen. Eic.), but one on each side and at the middle of the side in each case.
(D. A. F. Zu. Dus.)
Ver. 7. "calf" , —While "calf" is the primary meaning, "ox" is the
preferable translation according to usage in the Septuagint and as deter¬
mined by the context.
Ver. 8. "full of eyes round about and within ",—The "round
about" of this verse really comprises the "before and behind" of verse 6.
while the "within" refers to the inner part of the half-opened wings and
that part of the body otherwise covered by the wings.
The six wings are here to be understood as in Isaiah 6 and are a figura¬
tive representation of the ministerial relation in which the creature stands
to its God.
The eyes are signs of intense intelligence (omniscience) as well as of
constant wakefulness, day and night, ceaselessly declaring the glory of
God. (A. Dus.)
Ver. 9. "when" , —Better taken in the sense of "whensoever". (A.
F. L. Bar. Wor.)
"give", —Not to be pressed as an absolute future, but more as a
frequentative signification (V. B. Eb. Dus. Han.) and as implying eternal
repetition of the act. (A.)
Ver. 10. "fall down . . . cast crowns", —An expression of reverence
and humility and recognition of the fact that to Him belongs all honor, etc.
Ver. 11. "because of thy will", —Because Thou didst will it.
"they were", —i. e., they existed, as in contrast to their previous non¬
existence.
CHAPTER FIVE
I And I saw *in the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book written
within and on the back, close sealed
with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong
angel proclaiming with a great voice.
Who is worthy to open the book, and
to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no
one in the heaven, or on the earth, or
under the earth, was able to open the
book, or to look thereon. 4 And I
wept much, because no one was found
worthy to open the book, or to look
thereon: 5 and one of the elders saith
unto me. Weep not; behold, the Lion
that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, hath overcome to open the
book and the seven seals thereof. 6
And I saw = in the midst of the throne
3 Gr. on
2 Or. between the throne with the jour living
creatures, and the elders
and of the four living creatures, and in
the midst of the elders, a Lamb stand¬
ing. as though it had been slain, having
seven horns, and seven eyes, which are
3 the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into
all the earth. 7 And he came, and he
4 taketh it out of the right hand of him
that sat on the throne. 8 And when
he had taken the hook, the four living
creatures and the four and twenty elders
fell down before the Lamb, having each
one a harp, and golden bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the
saints. 9 And they sing a new song,
saying,
Worthy art thou to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and didst purchase
3 Somc ancient authorities omit seven
■*Gr. hath taken
560
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
unto God with thy blood men of
every tribe, and tongue, and people,
and nation, 10 and madest them to
be unto our God a kingdom and
priests; and they reign upon the
earth.
1 1 And I saw, and I heard a voice of
many angels round about the throne and
the living creatures and the elders; and
the number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands; 12 saying with a great voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that hath been
slain to receive the power, and riches,
and wisdom, and might, and honor,
and glory, and blessing.
1 3 And every created thing which is in
the heaven, and on the earth, and under
the earth, and on the sea, and all things
that are in them, heard I saying,
Unto him that sitteth on the throne,
and unto the Lamb, be the blessing,
and the honor, and the glory, and
the dominion, “for ever and ever.
14 And the four living creatures said.
Amen. And the eiders fell down and
"worshipped.
8 Gr. unto the ages of the ages
fl See marginal note on Chap. 3.9
Vers. 1-14. The Seven-sealed Book Which Christ Alone is
Worthy to Open.
Ver. 1. ” a book", —i. e., ”a book-roll”, according to contemporary
practice, in which stands written what must come to pass.
"in the right hand", —It is really “on”; not "on the right side of
Him who sat on the throne” (Eb.), but on His open right hand (A. F. L.
Dus.) as if on God's part there was no withholding of His future purposes
as contained in the book. (See verse 7 and Chap. 20.1.)
"written within and on the back", —It was written on the side next
to the staff and on the side turned outwards in unrolling and so betokening
the completeness of the contents as containing the divine counsels.
"closed sealed with seven seals", —Expressing the idea of both mys¬
tery and security.
Many think there were seven successive leaves rolled on the staff, each
with its own seal, and so only the seal to the outer one was visible to the
Seer. (L. V. D. Ew. Gro. Wet.) It is better, however, to think of all
the seals on the end, each one holding together a number of turns on the
staff and so all of them visible at the same time. (A. F. D. Eb. Dus.)
What Is Represented by the Book?
1. The Old Testament. (V.)
2. The Old Testament and the New Testament. (Be. Ew. Jer. Aug.)
3. Divorce from God written against the Jews. (Wet.)
4. Christ Himself. (Heterius.)
5. The sentence designed against the enemies of the Church. (Scho.)
All of these are more or less surmise.
6. The true explanation is that which refers it to that part of the
Apocalypse which deals with what is to follow. But as to how
much of what is to follow scholars are again at widest variance.
Does it refer to Chap. 6 only (L.), or to Chaps. 6 to 8 (Hen.),
or to Chaps. 6 to 11 (Al.), or to Chap. 6 on to the end (A. V.
D. F. Me. Dus. Lap.) ? This last is by far the most acceptable
view.
The fact that the seals were broken by the Lamb would lead one to
suppose that the roll was unfolded and read, but there is no record that any¬
thing was read out of the book. The book seemingly was never actually
561
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
opened nor any part of it read. The revelations given to the Seer, as seal
after seal is broken, is in images which represent the contents of the book.
(A. F. Eb. Sei. Dus. Hen.)
"There is no hint", says Moorehead, "that the book was read, that
its contents were disclosed. We are told of the events which succeed the
opening of the seals, but of the contents written within it nothing is said.
Did the book contain the events? Doubtful. It would be unwarranted
to affirm so much."
What is in the book will be made known, says Fausset, at the visible
setting up of the kingdom of Christ at His return and the opening of the
seals are the successive steps by which God in Christ prepares or clears the
way for this.
Moorehead says it is Christ's "title deed" to the kingdoms of this
world, the inheritance which He had purchased by His obedience unto
death, that Dan. 7.9-14 points to the same great transaction, and that
this majestic scene has not yet taken place.
Ver. 3. "under the earth”, —This does not mean "in the sea"
(Gro.), but the reference is to hades, the place of departed spirits. (A.
F. Dus.)
"no one was found worthy to open the book or to look thereon ”,—
Not perhaps, as Lange says, "not even so much as to look upon it", i. e.,
before it was opened; but rather to look upon it with a view to reading it
after it was opened. (A. F. D. Ew. Dus.)
Ver. 4. “And I wept” ,—It is difficult to know just why John wept.
Lange says it was because he already knew the contents of the book and the
dreadful things which were about to take place. It was perhaps because
the promise of Chap. 4.1 seemed about to be frustrated.
Ver. 5. "one of the elders”, —Some say the reference is to Matthew;
others to Peter and others to Jacob. But all this is mere guesswork.
"the root of David” ,—Some refer the expression to Christ’s divine
nature alone as the source, the divine root which brought forth David.
(Ca. Coc.) Others refer it to His human nature alone. (A. D. Ew. Eb.
Ei. Ly. Lap. Hen.), the reference being to His descent from the tribe of
Judah (being the Lion who has victoriously fought) and from the family
of David, the branch or sucker come up from the ancient root, i. e., the
descendant of David.
Others say the reference is to both His divine and human nature.
(L. A.) There is a possibility of reading the first explanation (Ca. Coc.)
into the expression, although by no means must the other be overlooked.
But the explanation which refers it to his human nature is better, as the
evident design is to set forth Christ as springing from the tribe of Judah
and the lineage of David and His victory as His exaltation through suffer¬
ing.
"hath overcome to open the book”, —The idea is not that He "pre¬
vailed to open the book" (A-V. B. Ew.), but it refers the rather to His
absolute victory. It is best read, "hath overcome, so as to open the book".
His right and power to open the book is the result of His victory over the
power of darkness and sin and death. (R-V. A. F. L. D. Eb. Dus.)
562
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Vcr. 6. “in the midst”, —Not "on” the throne (Eb.), but at the
middle point between the throne and the twenty-four elders. (A. D. L.
F. Dus. Hen.) De Wette further says, "on the glassy sea”; but nothing is
said as to this, whereas Chaps. 7.17 and 22.1 lend no strength to the idea.
“a Lamb” ,—The form is diminutive, a little lamb, as expressing, not
His short life as against the long life of the elders (B. Hen.), but perhaps
it is meant as De Wette says, "to put forward more prominently His inno¬
cence and meekness".
“standing”, —This is chosen no doubt with reference to the words,
”as though it had been slain” , to show that it is still living and strong.
By falling He stood.
"as though it had been slain”, —i. e., retaining the appearance of
death wounds on his body, looking as if it had been slain.
"having seven horns”, —Representing perfect might. (A. F.) (Matt.
28.18.)
”and seven eyes”, —Representing watchful, active operation.
”the seven Spirits of God” ,—i. e., the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold
perfection belonging to and profluent from the incarnate Redeemer, just as
the seven lamps represent this Spirit immanent in the Godhead.
“which are”, —This does not refer to the horns but to the eyes alone.
“sent forth into all the earth” ,—Referring to His world-wide energy.
The word " apostle” is derived from the word here used for “sent”.
Ver. 8. “each one”, —This applies only to the elders, as seen:
First, by the masculine form, the four living beings being feminine
in form, while the twenty-four elders are masculine in form;
Second, by the unnaturalness of ascribing harps and vials to beings
as fashioned in Chap. 4.7;
Third, by the incongruence of such beings as the four living beings,
whether non-human personal unfallen spirits or representatives
of animate creation, having the office of offering the prayers of
the saints.
“golden bowls full of incense” ,—i. e., one in the hand of each elder.
It is said by some that the bowls (vials) represent the prayers of the saints
just as the harps represent their praise. (A. L. Dus. Wor.) Grammatic¬
ally this is possible, yet it is not only grammatically just as possible to refer
the prayers to the incense, but it is far more natural and appropriate. (V.
Bar. Crav.) (See Psalm 141.2 and the temple ceremony.)
“the prayers of the saints ”,—Seiss says the reference is to the saints
of all ages whose prayers, “Thy kingdom come”, are now about to be
answered. He says, "The picture is not that of saints in heaven officiat¬
ing for saints on earth; but of saints in heaven holding up to Christ their
own prayers, that now they may be answered in the ushering in of the
kingdom for which they have through all ages prayed." This seems a
bit too fanciful and far-fetched.
Hengstenberg says, "By the saints are primarily to be understood the
saints on earth. Still there is no reason for excluding the saints in glory
(compare Chaps. 11.18 and 18.20). These look down upon the suffer¬
ings and conflicts of their brethren, who are still in the flesh, and entreat
563
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
God to accomplish their redemption and to perfect His Church." But is
this not somewhat productive of confusion?
It is better, we feel, with others to refer it to Christians on earth
exclusively. (A. D. F. Ew. Gab. Dus. Crav.) The prayers of the saints
on earth are, as it were, inclosed in the golden vials, and by the ideal Church
divested of their earthly, unbounded and immoderate affections and thus
presented to Christ.
Though the elders and the angel be employed by God in some way
unknown to us to present the prayers of the saints, nothing is here said
of their praying for the saints, and even though it be admitted, as many
would have us think (B. St. Hen. Lap. Lut.), that the glorified saints
in heaven pray for the saints on earth, it does not involve the utterly un-
scriptural idea that prayer may be offered to the glorified saints.
Ver. 9. “And they sing ’,—It is their blessed occupation con¬
tinually.
“a new song’, —In Chap. 4 it was the song of creation; here it is
the song of redemption and its immediate reference is to the worthiness of
the Lamb to open the book, acquired through His work of redemption.
The theme is the Incarnation, the Passion and the Redemption of Christ.
“didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe ’’,-—
(See explanation under Chap. 4.4.)
Ver. 10. “and madest them’’, — (See explanation under Chap. 4.4).
“a kingdom’’ ,— (See explanation under Chap. 1.6).
“and they reign upon the earth”, —Many commentators following
weighty manuscript authority read here in the present tense (R-V. A. L.
Vau. Lac. Tre. Wor Dus.), while others argue for the future (A-V. F.
Crav.) The weight of authority, both of manuscript and scholarship, is
about equally divided. We must not forget, however, that elsewhere of
the saints it is said that they shall reign over the earth (Dan. 7.22,27; Lu.
22.29,30). It is this fact which inclines us to agree with the view that
gives to the verb here the future sense, as well as the fact that they who utter
the song are in heaven.
Fausset thinks the weightiest authority favors the future and that
even if the present tense be acceptd it is a prophetical present denoting the
certain future (See Chap. 11.15,18), and that the saints shall share Christ’s
King-Priest throne in the Millennial Kingdom.
Others, on the other hand, say the whole aspect and reference of this
heavenly vision is not future but present and that even now the Church
in Christ, her Head, is reigning over the earth. (A. L. Dus. Vau.)
“upon the earth”, —The preposition is "epi" and the Greek justifies
the translation "over", according to which the saints themselves do not
necessarily need to remain or be upon the earth. The translation in our
text is, however, justified by the use of this preposition as is elsewhere
made plain.
The natural inference is that the four living beings join in the song.
If they represent a special class of glorified saints for some reason more
highly privileged than others, as some believe, they of course did join in
the song. Even as non-human beings they could have joined in it with
the elders providing we do not think of the elders as including themselves
564
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
among the redeemed, but having already conceded that the elders probably
did include themselves, it will not do to think of the four living beings
as included in the song inasmuch as we have taken them to be non-human
personal unfallen spirits.
Since " having each one" in verse 8 refers only to the elders it is quite
proper to refer the “they" of verse 9 to the elders as those to whom the
words immediately preceding refer, all the more especially since the song
of the four living beings is given at verse 14. Lange, followed by Milli¬
gan and Hengstenberg, calls attention to the fact that the song is sung to
the music of the harps held by the elders and so by the elders only is the
song sung. Says Hengstenberg, ‘'Harps, human instruments, are found
elsewhere in the Apocalypse only in the hands of the members of the
Church (Chap. 14.2,3; 15.2), and a celebration of the deeds of Christ is
nowhere else found in the mouths of the cherubims and indeed does not
appear to suit them."
Dusterdieck, who takes the four living beings as representatives of
the entire living creation and elders as representatives of redeemed humanity,
makes the four living beings unite in the song; but this he can do only by
making the song refer to the general fact of redemption rather than to any
personal participation in it. It is, however, best not to think of these
living beings as uniting in the song unless they are made likewise, with
the twenty-four elders, representatives of redeemed human beings.
Ver. 1 1. “And I saw and I heard", —This is not to be generalized
into meaning, "I saw, that is to say, I heard"; but John most certainly
saw the host of angels whose voices he heard.
“round about", —i. e., surrounding on all sides the smaller circle
hitherto described.
Ver. 12. The items in the ascription here given are seven, to express
their holy completeness. The article is used only before the first one and
thus makes all seven to be, as it were, a single word or expression.
“riches", —This is not to be confined to spiritual riches (D. Hen.),
but is to be taken generally, all riches and fullness, earthly as well as
spiritual.
Ver. 13. “And every created thing That the reference is pri¬
marily to animated creatures seems affirmed by the fact that heaven, earth
and sea are mentioned as the abodes of these creatures or creations.
“in the heaven", —The living beings, including the angels and the
glorified saints.
“on the earth", —i. e., collective humanity and all other creatures.
“under the earth", —Not demons (V. Hen.), but the departed spirits
in hades. (A. Dus.) (Phil. 2.10.)
“on the sea", —Not ships, but the sea animals which are here con¬
ceived as being on the sea’s surface, with perhaps special reference to sea¬
birds, flying fish, whale, etc.
“in them", —i. e., in the several spheres just mentioned.
Ver. 14. “worshipped", —i. e., in silent adoration of God and of
the Lamb.
565
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
CHAPTER SIX
There are four Systems of Interpretation of the Book of Revelation,
which must be borne in mind in entering upon the study of the time refer¬
ence and the meaning of the various Seals now to be set before us, as well,
as of the Trumpets and Vials which are to follow.
I. The Spiritual System.
The Book of Revelation deals only with great principles, and is a
poetic and prophetic depiction of the struggle that has always been going
on between righteousness and sin, between Christ and Satan, the struggle
which began with the fall of man and which will end only with the end:
of time. Among the advocates of this view are some able and devouti
scholars such as Prof. Milligan, Prof. Randell, Archdeacon Lee, and the
author's own revered instructor, George Tybout Purves.
The Book of Revelation, however, claims to be genuine prophecy,
while furthermore this novel theory deliberately ignores the distinct and
definite chronological data furnished by the writer. There is of course
truth in the deductions of this method of explaining the Book, but as a
System of interpretation it is altogether inadequate, and has never been
acceptable to the Church either of Ancient, Medieval or Modern times.
II. The Preterist System.
This School of Interpretation holds that the Revelation has largely
been fulfilled, and that it has special and immediate reference to conditions
and events in John's own time, having to do with the Roman State, the
Jews, the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Christians of the first century
and the Apostolic age. The School was launched by the Jesuit Alcazar in
1614. (D. St. Sw. Ew. Ei. Sim. Ham. Dus: Luc. Bos. Dav. Desprez, Le-
Clerc, and Prof. Ramsey.) Most advocates of this System of Interpre¬
tation place the date of the Book at A. D. 68, accept Nero as the Beast
of Chap. 13, believing John to have adopted the absurd fiction that Nero
did not die by his own hand and that he was somewhere concealed till the
hour should arrive for his reappearance at the head of a great army to
overthrow Rome, annihilate Christianity, deliver Israel and become the
Antichrist.
But—
(a) Historical facts and events have proven, as Moorehead has well
said, that the Book is totally mistaken, false and untrustworthy
if it be based upon the foundation just described, for Nero did
not appear, the seventh head of the Beast did not become Anti¬
christ, Rome did not fall, but Jerusalem did, and Israel instead
of being delivered and exalted, went into an exile that still
endures.
(b) Certainly the awful figures and celestial phenomena of the
sixth Seal, as well as the events described in other portions of
the Book are not satisfied with merely that which took place
at the overthrow of Jerusalem.
(c) It is now generally conceded that Revelation was not written
until A. D. 96, twenty-six years after the Destruction of Jeru¬
salem.
566
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
(d) This view gives us essentially the rationalistic interpretation of
the Book, the recognition of its inspiration being wholly inade¬
quate. It has few supporters at the present time. Among
recent scholars adopting it are Ramsey, Swete and Simcox, who,
however, date the Book in A. D. 96 2nd make Domitian the
Beast of Chap. 13 by whose ascension the deadly wound of
Nero was healed, but their exposition utterly gives way when
confronted with the historical facts in the case.
III. The Historical System.
The School of Interpretation holds that the prophecies of Revela¬
tion embrace the whole history of the Church and its foes from the time of
its writing to the end of the world. This School originated about the
eleventh century among those who began to protest against the growing
corruptions of the Church of Rome.
This School must again be divided into two classes:
1. The Consecutive or Continuous Historical view which makes the
different visions refer to successive historical events following one
after the other along the way from the beginning of John's time
to the final consummation of all things. (B. V. N. Me. El. Br.
Bi. Lut. Bui. Cun. Dau. Gor. Gui. New. Bale, Foxe, Frere, Keith,
Irving, Pareus, Faber, Whiston, Bicheno, Marlorat, Woodhouse,
Habershon, Chytraeus, Bickersteth.)
For the best discussion of the views of this School read Elliott's
“Horae Apocalypticae”, and Guinness' “The Approaching End
of the Age". The majority of these writers agree as to the fol¬
lowing points, with some diversity of course as to detail:
(a) The First Seal refers to the temporary prosperity, and Seals
two, three and four to the decline of the Pagan Roman
Empire.
(b) The Fifth Seal to the martyrdom of Christians which com¬
menced under Diocletian in A. D. 303.
(c) The Sixth Seal to the fall of the Pagan Roman Empire under
Constantine.
(d) Trumpets one to four to the Gothic invasions, Trumpet
five to the Saracen invasion and Trumpet six to that of the
Turks.
(e) The little “opened book” to the Reformation.
(f) Chapter eleven to the Papal persecution of the saints as
heretics.
(g) Chapter twelve to the depression and recession from view
of the true Church during the Papal ages.
(h) The Beasts of Revelation to aspects of the Papacy.
(i) The Vials to the great French Revolution and its results.
(j) Chapter seventeen to Rome.
(k) Chapter eighteen to the Papacy.
(l) A day is the symbol of a year.
As set forth by Elliott this view may be stated in general as follows:
“The Seals, Trumpets and Vials are to be interpreted as connected and
567
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
consecutive series,—the Seventh Seal unfolding itself in the seven Trumpet-
visions, and the Seventh Trumpet in those of the seven Vials; and this
with no intermission or interruption, save only that of the supplemental
retrogressive Part (which Ellicott supposes to have occupied the outside
of the Scroll), their historic matter being respectively as follows:
I. That of the coming temporary prosperity, and then the decline
and fall of Pagan Rome, before the power of Christianity:—the subject
of the first six Seals.
II. The ravage and destruction of Rome Christians, after its apos-
tacy, in its divisions both of east and west; of the western empire by the
Goths, of the eastern by the Saracens and the Turks:—the subject of the
first six Trumpets.
III. The history of the Reformation, as introduced about the middle
of the Sixth Trumpet.
IV. The supplemental and explanatory history of the rise, charac¬
ter and actings of the Papacy and Papal Empire, which sprung out of the
Gothic inundations of Western Europe.
V. The preliminary judgments on, and then the final overthrow of
the Papacy and Papal Empire under the outpourings of the vials of God's
wrath; followed by the coming of Christ to judgment; consequent on
which is depicted,
VI. The glorious consummation, including the descent of the
heavenly Jerusalem, and the reign of Christ and His saints on the renovated
earth.
Of which parts the first four seem to me to have been accomplished
already; and of the fifth part the prefigured events to be now far advanced
in progress of fulfillment."
That this method of interpretation is a possible one can hardly be
doubted by any one who has given close study to the profane and ecclesi¬
astical history of the world since the time of Christ, but as a System of
Interpretation many scholars think it quite too incomplete.
(a) It leaves huge gaps in the history it is supposed to cover. The
500 years between A. D. 1000 and 1500 it leaves almost
untouched.
(b) The periods are not well defined; they run into and are em¬
bodied one with another.
(c) The awful figures of the Sixth Seal are hardly satisfied by the
sack of Rome, as Elliott interprets, or by the invasions of the
Goths and Vandals from the north upon the Roman Empire,
as Barnes explains.
(d) The year-day theory, making a day stand for a year, does not
commend itself to sober scholars as once it did, not a few be¬
lieving that Tregelles has demonstrated it to be fallacious and
unbiblical.
(e) The utter lack of harmony among the interpreters of this School
as to historical reference and especially as to the starting point
of the 1260 days (years, as they interpret) so frequently men¬
tioned in the Book does not commend the system any too highly,
although this cannot be taken as an altogether sufficient reason
for its condemnation.
568
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
It might be well just here to insert a quotation from Milligan, who
strongly opposes this method of interpretation; he says, "All the greatest
incidents, and, it must be added, some of the most trivial details, of the
past or present (such as the red color of the stockings of the Romish cardi¬
nals) are to be seen in its prophetic page; and the pious mind derives its
encouragement and comfort from the thought that these things were long
ago foretold. But the whole school of historical interpreters has been
irretrievably discredited, if not by the extravagance of paltriness of its
explanations, at least by their hopeless divergence from, and contradiction
of, one another. Besides this, it has to be observed that to make the
Apocalypse deal almost exclusively with these historical incidents belonging
to later history of the Church, is to make a book that must have been
useless to those for whom it was written. How could the early Chris¬
tians discover in it the establishment of Christianity under Constantine,
the rise of Mohammedanism, the Lutheran Reformation, or the French
Revolution? Of what possible use would it have been to foretell to them
events in which they could have no interest? Would they be either wiser
or better if they had known them? Would they not have substituted a
vain prying into the future for the study of those divine principles which,
belonging to every age, bring the weight of universal history to enforce
the lessons of our own time? Nothing has tended more to destroy the
feeling that there is value in the Apocalypse than this continuous historical
interpretation of the book. The day, however, for such interpretations
has passed, probably never to return."
2. The Contemporaneous or Synchronous Historical view which
holds that the first five Seals, as well as Trumpets and Vials, are
synchronous, beginning as to their development at the time John
had the vision and continuing on down through history with
reference to certain contemporaneous events, the Sixth Seal usher¬
ing in the Second Coming of Christ.
IV. The Futurist System,
This School of Interpretation throws the whole book, beginning
with Chap. 4, forward to the times of the Second Coming of Christ.
(Sco. Gab. Pet. Sei. Mor. Tor. Bla. Gra. Will. Todd, Tyso, Burgh,
Maitland.)
These authorities refer all seven Seals, Trumpets and Vials to the
seven years just prior to the Second Coming of Christ with His saints in
judgment, and declares that all Christians will have been caught up in the
Rapture when these judgments are enacted.
This school was launched in 1580 by the Jesuit Ribera, who, as
Guinness says, "moved like Alcazar, to relieve the Papacy from the terrible
stigma cast upon it by the Protestant interpretation (the Historical School) ,
tried to do so by referring these prophecies to the distant future, instead of
like Alcazar to the distant past/*
This view gives to literal Israel a very large place in the book of
Revelation, and refers the word “saints” very largely to Jewish believers
during the time of the Great Tribulation, whereas the Historical view
refers the prophecy very largely to the experiences of the Christian Church
during the present dispensation.
569
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
The Spiritual and Preterist Systems of Interpretation, as we hav«
seen, have very little to commend them, and we are left to a choice as be¬
tween the Historical and the Futurist.
It has already been admitted in the discussion under Chap. 1.19-
that the most natural inference at that place seems to favor some form of!
the historical method of interpretation; but there is so much in the book fori
which it seems hard to find a place in the history of the world, as we
know it, that one is much tempted to look into the future for the "things
which must shortly come to pass'; although some look upon this as an
easy way to escape the difficulties of the text.
Should the Futurist view be taken, it must be borne in mind thati
there are also two aspects of this view; one which puts all the happenings
after the Christians have been caught up and during the Great Tribulation;
the other which puts all the happenings just before the Christians are
caught up and during the Great Tribulation which precedes this Rapture.
The references to the Futurist interpretation throughout our study
will be confined, unless otherwise noted, to the first division of this school,
to which belong by far the greater number of Futurist commentators.
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened
one of the seven seals, and 1 heard one
of the four living creatures saying as
with a voice of thunder. Come 1 . 2
And I saw, and behold, a white horse,
'Some ancient authorities add and see
Vers. 1,2. The FIRST SEAL.
and he that sat thereon had a bow;
and there was given unto him a crown;
and he came forth conquering, and to
conquer.
Ver. 1. “voice of thunder ”,—A tone of terror, majesty and judg¬
ment, not belonging particularly to the first being as resembling a lion,
nor has it anything to do with the contents of the First Seal (Hen.), but as
belonging to all four alike and to be accounted for by their mysterious
and supernatural nature. It is accredited only to the first being because
it is the first to speak.
“Come ",—The “and see” of the Authorized Version is hardly well
enough attested to be received and must therefore be omitted.
Some say the address is to John to draw close to see accurately what
proceeds from the unsealed book. (Dus. Gro.) Lange says this idea is
void of meaning since it is a visional appearance that is referred to. Alford
objects to it on the ground (1) that John was already there and that the
“come" could not have been repeated as it was in verses 3, 5 and 7 unless
we conceive of John drawing near each time and then retiring; (2) that
he would have no need to be addressed in a voice of thunder; and (3) that
the verb is never used in this sense without some particle which does not
here appear.
Others say it is addressed to Christ and is the groaning of creation
for the second coming of Christ (Rom. 8.9) (A. F. Mil.). They remind
us that at the Fifth Seal the martyrs make the same prayer and that at the
Sixth Seal Christ’s coming takes place. They refer also to Chap. 22.1 7,20.
This idea fits in beautifully with their interpretation of the four living
creatures as representing animated creation, but (a) it is unexampled and
unnatural as an address to Christ, and (b) Chap. 22.17,22 is a call to “the
570
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
water of life”, and (c) thunder is the voice of command and not of
prayer; all of which reasons discourage us from accepting this view.
Still others say it is a command issuing from the ministers of God
for the riders to come forth and is accordingly addressed to them. (Sei.
Crav.) Any explanation here can be little more than a surmise, but this
last view seems to have the least against it whether we translate by the
word “Come" or the word “Go" as Seiss does.
Ver. 2. Roman victors always rode on white horses. We have
here, it would seem, the image of the victorious warrior going forth to
conquer.
Lange, though not identifying the horses necessarily with those of
Zech. 1.8, thinks them no doubt related in a general way, as do many
others, including Hengstenberg. But Dusterdieck well says that "neither
the forms of the horses in Zechariah nor the attached significance agrees
with the vision of our passage; even the color of the horses are not the
same, much less their meaning." We are not inclined to attach any sig¬
nificance to the horse itself or its color or to the bow. Any attempt to
go further is liable to land in the arbitrary and ofttimes frivolous and
ridiculous, and is altogether uncalled for.
“he that sat thereon ",—The Consecutive Historical view makes the
rider of this horse to be the Roman emperor, the time under consideration
being that during the reigns of the five good emperors, Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian and the two Antonines. Elliott maintains that the differences
between the rider of the white horse in Chap. 19 and here are so many
and so great that they must have been purposely set forth in order to set
aside all idea of any identity btween the two riders. Gibbon represents
this as the "Golden Age" of the Roman Empire.
According to the Synchronous Historical view this seal represents the
triumphing image of Christ, the same as in Chap. 19.11. (F. L. Kl. Eb.
Se. Be. Ca. Ly. Dus. Hen. Gro. Lap. And.)
“to conquer ",—He goes forth not only as a conqueror but he is to
gain a victory that shall be final and everlasting. The crown may find its
parallel in Zech. 6.1 1 and the bow may be identified with the imagery of
Hab. 3.9 where God goes forth for the salvation of His people. (See also
Isa. 41.2; Zech. 9.13, and especially Psalm 45.4,3.)
Almost all scholars down to A. D. 150 took the image as a sympol
of the preached Gospel and its success.
Inasmuch as the other three riders are personifications, this is taken
by many (D. B. Ei. Ew. Her.) as a personification of victory, while Alford
and Stern take it as a personification of Christianity breaking down earthly
power and making the kingdoms of this world to become the Kingdom of
our Lord and His Christ. However it is hard to perceive of a personifica¬
tion of Christianity except in the person of Christ, and if the Synchronous
Historical view is taken it is better to see in the image the person of Christ
as above noted.
Craven, however, who also belongs to this school, makes this image
a symbol of a false Christ, i. e., Human Culture, Science. He thinks this
in harmony with Matt, 24, as it is in harmony with the fact that the other
riders are symbolical or personifications. There is not a little to be said
571
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
in favor of the view of Craven but it is hardly to be preferred above the
other.
The Futurists make the image a personification also of a false Christ,
and see here a picture of the Antichrist during the last days proclaiming
peace indeed but a false peace upon the earth.
Most Futurists place this as well as the other Seals after the Rapture,
but Moorehead, who thinks we have here a picture of "triumphant militar¬
ism", places this Seal and the three following ones during "the beginning
of sorrows" (Matt. 24.5-14) before the Rapture, "before", he says, "Dan¬
iel’s Seventieth Week begins its course".
3 And when he opened the second
seal, I heard the second living creature
saying, Come 1 . 4 And another horse
came forth, a red horse: and to him that
’Some ancient authorities add and see
sat thereon it was given to take : peace
from the earth, and that they should
slay one another: and there was given
unto him a great sword.
'Some ancient authorities read the feace of
the earth
Vers. 3,4. The SECOND SEAL; PEACE TAKEN FROM THE EARTH.
Ver. 4. "a red horse", —i. e., war personified. Expositors are united
concerning the essential significance of this vision. The color of the horse
in each case has reference to the employment of the rider.
According to the Consecutive Historical view it is civil war that is
here depicted, inasmuch as they were to " kill one another", and it was
therefore from the Roman "earth" that the peace left by the former Seal
was to be taken away, the period referred to being that during the time of
Emperor Commodus and his successors (A. D. 192 to A. D. 249). Says
Sismondi, "During the ninety-two years from the death of Commodus on.
thirty-two emperors and twenty-seven pretenders, alternately hurled each
other from the throne by incessant civil warfare," "It was the period",
says Elliott, "of civil wars and bloodshed in the Roman Empire."
According to the Synchronous Historical view it is, as Alford says,
"one of the world-long and world-wide preparations for Christ’s coming",
the "earth" referring not to Judea, nor to the Roman Empire, nor to any
special portion of the earth.
Dusterdieck thinks the reference is to the wars mentioned in Matt.
24.7,8, as the first presage of the coming of Christ.
Stern thinks the reference is to the persecution of Christians by the
world-powers, the red horse being the Roman Empire and the rider being
Nero. (Ly.) Calovius refers the horse to antichristianity and its rider
to the Devil. With him agree many others, including Bede, who says,
"against the victorious and conquering Church a red horse (an unfavorable
populace) goes forth bloody from their rider the Devil." But they were
to "kill one another" and therefore the persecution of Christians cannot be
thought of, nor are we according to the view under discussion to think of
the last three horsemen as occupying a hostile attitude toward the first one.
The figure is rightly apprehended as general by Alford and others.
(L. F. Eb. Dus. Hen. Mil.) "The war thought of", says Milligan, "is not
between the Church and the world but between different portions of the
world itself. A world that will not accept the rule of the Prince of Peace
brings upon itself the curse of war."
572
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
According to the Futurists war comes to take away the promise of
peace made by the false rider of the first horse. (See II Kings 3.22, the
horse blood-colored.)
5 And when he opened the third seal.
I heard the third living creature saying.
Come 1 . And I saw. and behold, a black
horse; and he that sat thereon had a
balance in his hand. 6 And I heard as
J Some ancient authorities add and see
Vers. 5,6. The Third Seal.
Ver. 6. “as it were a uoice”, —The one from whom the voice pro¬
ceeds remains unknown, though doubtless it was from one of the four
living beings.
“measure", —Greek, "Choenix",—a man's daily nourishiment; a
quart.
“shilling", —Greek, "Denarius",—a man's daily wage.
The Consecutive Historical School takes the symbol of that of the
fiscal oppression and injustice on the part of the Roman Provincial Gov¬
ernors who are supposed to be represented by the rider on the horse, and
who were intrusted in each province with the collection of the produce
and the revenue.
According to the Synchronous Historical School the reference, of
course, must be more or less general, although the specific reference may
appropriately be to the time just before the Parousia of Christ, and to
one of the four judgments by which the way of the Lord’s coming will
be opened. (A. Dus.)
The figuration, according to this school of interpretation, is to be
taken as that of Famine, the horse being black, the color of hunger (Lam.
4.8,9), and it is to be taken here not so much as denoting the grief of those
afflicted by the plague (D. Hen.), but as indication of the mournful nature
of the employment of the rider on the horse, i. e., famine.
The “balance" is taken by this school as the symbol of scarcity. (A.
L. E. Hen. Mil. Dus.) (Ezek. 4.10,16.)
“the oil and wine hurt not", —This is to be taken under any circum¬
stances as a command to the horseman limiting the plague. It is taken
by the school, whose view we are now considering, as an injunction to
let them grow as ordinarily. Fausset surmises that they were to be spared
for the refreshment of the sufferers—mercy tempering judgment.
The arguments of the Consecutive School against taking the figura¬
tion in this Seal as that of famine are not without weight.
The measure of wheat (a quart) was a man’s daily provision and
this he got for a shilling, a day's wage, which Elliott declares though not
a cheap price, was far from being a famine price. But he got three days'
provision of barley for one day's work, which certainly is not a famine
price! "Did ever man hear of such a famine as this?" asked Elliott.
"The ‘balance’ " says Elliott, "in John's day was a symbol of justice, and
is to be associated here not with the weighing, out of a scanty measure for
573
it were a voice in the midst of the four
living creatures saying, 3 A measure of
wheat for a Shilling, and three measures
of barley for a Shilling; and the oil and
the wine hurt thou not.
a Or, A choenix (*. e. about a quart) of wheat
for a shilling —implying: preat scarcity. Comp.
Ezek. 4.16 f.; 5.16
3 See marginal note on Ml. 18.28
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
his own or his family’s eating, but with the buying and selling of corn,
and so may as well be taken as a symbol of plenty as of famine,”
The oil and wine, when housed and secured by the owner in his
casks and cellars, were not things to be "hurt”, nor can they be put here
figurative for growing olives and vines, and the best translation, Elliott
thinks, is "do not deal unjustly in”; though this rendering Alford will
not allow.
According to the Futurist School the plague of famine begins after
the Rapture of the Church and runs parallel with the other Seals on
through the time of the Great Tribulation.
Purely arbitrary are all such allegorizings as “false brethren whose
works are black” (Be.), “dearth of spiritual nourishment” (V.), “per¬
sonified heresies” (Stern), and that of Lyra who says, “the horse means
the Roman army, the rider, Titus, while wheat and barley mean the
Jews, and the oil and the wine mean the Christians”.
The reference is, of course, not specifically to the famine under
Claudius (Gro. Wet. Hei. Boe.), nor so much to famine in general (B. Hu.
Ca.).
7 And when he opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature saying, Come 1 . 8 And I
saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he
that sat upon him, his name was Death;
and Hades followed with him. And
'Some ancient authorities add at/d see
Vers. 7,8. The Fourth SEAL.
Ver. 8. “a pale horse” ,—The color here is that of a corpse, i. e.,
livid, the greenish pallor of death.
"Death; and Hades followed with him”, —Both Death and Hades
are here personified. By "hades” we are not to understand the inhabitants
of Hades (Ei. Eb.), which idea would people the earth with ghosts. But
"Hades followed with him”, —ready to engulf and detain his victims.
"the fourth part of the earth”, —According to the Consecutive His¬
torical school the horse here symbolizes the Roman empire and people,
appearing deadly pale and livid under the influence of Death, who brings
his curse upon the Roman earth with all the four sore judgments of God.
Such an era of terrible mortality, Elliott assures us actually did take place
in Roman imperial history immediately following the time of the preceding
Seal and thereafter. During a part of this period (A. D. 248 to A. D.
296), says Gibbon, “five thousand persons died daily in Rome; and many
towns that escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopulated.”
Elliott finds difficulty with the expression, "the fourth part of the
earth” (i. e., according to him, the Roman earth), inasmuch as the
plague extended over all of it, as he has set forth. This difficulty he
escapes by adopting a rendering of Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, “over the four
parts of the earth”, and by showing how the Roman empire was actually
divided at that time into four parts, West, East, Illyricum, and Central
Italy.
The Continuous Historical School gives the word "earth” its regu¬
lar significance. Lange says that as four is the number of the world, the
there was given unto them authority
over the fourth part of the earth, to kill
with sword, and with famine, and with
Meath, and by the wild beasts of the
earth.
: Or, -pestilence . Comp. Chap. 2.23 marf.
574
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
fourth part is the worldly part. But certainly, if these plagues take place
before the Rapture of the Christians, as they must according to the Syn¬
chronous and Historical views, they are not confined to unbelievers, but
they must, according to this view, as Dusterdieck says, refer as well to
"believers who have patiently endured and hoped for the coming of the
Lord as well as unbelievers."
Alford says "fbe fourth part " merely specifies his position as being
one of the four riders and not that he divided the earth with the other three
riders. But this is unsatisfactory and finds no analogy in Chap. 8, where
a third part is spoken of.
By most expositors it is taken to mean merely a considerable portion.
Milligan says that this judgment was limited because if it extended over
the whole earth there would be no room for the extension of th judgments
that are to follow and he thinks the Seer used the fourth part as the estimate
simply because this number together with the number three was most often
in his mind and that he chose it as being a smaller portion than a third.
We have seen no explanation altogether satisfactory of the expression
under discussion, and can find none of our own unless it was necessary
on account of the nature of this plague (death) to limit its ravages (as
it was not in the case of the less severe ones) lest the whole earth perish,
the "one fourth " being taken not geographically but quantitatively.
The four agents enumerated here are the same as those in Ezekiel
14.21, death being used in this instance in the sense of pestilence; the
wild beasts multiplying in consequence of depopulation.
Alford says, "All four seals are judgments upon the earth; the beat¬
ing down of earthly power, the breaking up of earthly peace, the exhaust¬
ing of earthly wealth and the destruction of earthly life." He says, "The
cry of the first beast is answered, not by Christ Himself, but by a symbol
of His victorious power; Seals two, three and four hold a somewhat sub¬
ordinate place to the first one, the destined concomitants of the growing
and conquering power of Christ, methods by which He carries out His
conquering career; the four seals being contemporaneous and each of them
jxtending through the whole lifetime of the Church." Alford admits that
‘they may receive continually recurring, or even ultimate fulfillments, as
the ages of the world go on, in distinct periods of time, and by distinctly
assignable events."
The Futurists make these first four seals also synchronous but place
;hem after the rapture of the Christians and during the tribulation which
hey believe immediately follows.
Entirely arbitrary are all the allegorizing interpretations such as
'death-bringing heresies" (Be.), "spiritual death, complete falling away
torn Christ" (Stern), the "Saracens and the Turks" (V.), the "Romans
mder Dominitian" (Ly.), "migration of natives" (Hus.), "mortal suf-
erings of the Jewish war" (Gro. Wet. Her. Boe.).
9 And when he opened the fifth seal,
l saw underneath the altar the souls of
them that had been slain for the word
of God. and for the testimony which
they held: 10 and they cried with a
great voice, O Master, the holy and true,
dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth?
575
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
11 And there was given them to each also and their brethren, who should be
one a white robe; and it was said unto killed even as they were, should 'have
them, that they should rest yet for a fulfilled their course.
little time, until their fellow-servants
’Some ancient authorities read be fulfilled, im
number
Vers. 9-11. The Fifth Seal.
Ver. 9. The scene is now changed to an altar which is in heaven.
"underneath the altar ",—The reference here is not to the altar of
incense (D.), but to the altar of burnt offering, the altar of sacrifice. (A.
E. F. L. V. B. Eb. Ew. Hen. Dus. Wor.)
"underneath the altar", —The blood of sacrifice was always poured
out at the foot of the altar. (Lev. 4.7.) It is no doubt to be taken, as
Alford says, symbolically, carrying out the likening of the martyrs to
victims slain on the altar.
"the souls of them that had been slain", —There are three explan¬
ations:
1. Martyrs clothed with subtile bodies (Ei.). But for this meaning
there is no use whatever except the unnecessary attempt to make
the souls visible to John.
2. The disembodied spirits of the martyrs as in Chap. 20.4. (A. L.
Dus. and the majority of commentators.)
3. Their animal life only as represented in their blood, crying for
vengeance, as in Gen. 4.10. (F. Su. Hen. Mil. Crav.)
The last view is worthy of thoughtful consideration and we are rather
inclined to accept it. The second view has this against it, that the spirits
of the martyrs must be in bliss with Christ, and furthermore it makes
Stephen say one minute, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge", and the
very next minute cry for vengeance on them. Hengstenberg says the pas¬
sage in Chap. 20.4 makes this last view all the more necessary.
"the testimony which they held", —i. e., the testimony borne by
them concerning Christ. (A. F. L. E. Bl. Ew.)
Ver. 10. "O Master, the holy and true", —It is God who is here
addressed (L. A. V. Ew. Dus.), and not Christ (V. Gro.). The idea in
the word "true" is that of a God who is faithful to His promises (V. A. B.
D. Hen.), rather than to a God whose essence is truth (Dus.).
The Consecutive Historical School refers this Seal to the martyrdom
of Christians which commenced under Diocletian in A. D. 303.
According to the Synchronous Historical School the reference here is,
as Alford says, to “the cry of the martyrs’ blood which has ever been going
up to God since Stephen's fall; ever and anon at some great time of perse¬
cution it has waxed louder and so on through the ages it shall gather
strength and accumulate until the great issue of the parable of Luke 17.1
is accomplished."
The Futurists refer it, of course, to the tribulation martyrs, those who
are to give their lives during the years of the Great Tribulation. They
hold these martyrs do not pertain to the Church because their cry for ven¬
geance indicates that they were on other ground than Christian. But the
language is precisely the same as that used by our Lord in Luke 18.7, and
576
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the argument therefore for the Rapture of the Church at the opening of
Chap. 4 on this ground loses its force. Moorehead contends that they
are Christians, belong to the Body of Christ, the time referred to being
just before Christ’s Advent and after the riding forth of the four horsemen
by whose order the martyrs were doubtless slain, the first resurrection not
yet having taken place, which resurrection "occurs when Christ returns to
earth in visible majesty and overwhelming power and glory".
Milligan and some others think the reference is not to those who have
been actually killed or martyred, but to all the saints of the Old Testament,
and that by “their fellow-servants also and their brethren who should be
killed’’ is meant the saints of the New Testament. The arguments, how¬
ever, adduced by Milligan for this view are far from convincing.
Ver. II. “a white robe”, —"The vestment of acknowledged and
glorified righteousness, in which the saints walk and reign with' Christ."
(A.) The white robes are not to be thought of as having at that time
been actually bestowed (as all receive these robes on entering glory), but as
appearing to be bestowed in the vision of the Seer, because until this
moment only one side of the martyr's intermediate state had in the vision
been presented, i. e., their slaughter and their cry for vengeance.
“they should rest”, —Not merely to quit crying for vengeance (B.
D.), but to rest in blessedness. (A. Dus. Hen.)
“for a little time*, —This is to be taken as corresponding with the
entire view of the Apocalypse and is to be interpreted as everywhere else
throughout the book. Dusterdieck says that John really thought the time
was to be very short but that John was mistaken.
“who should be killed”, —i. e., martyred.
“should have fulfilled their course”, —i. e., as to their number (D.
Eb. Dus. Wol.), although there is quite as much manuscript authority for
the marginal reading preferred by many others. (A. Li. Tre. Hen.)
12 And I saw when he opened the
sixth seal, and there was a great earth¬
quake; and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon
became as blood; 1 3 and the stars of the
heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree
casteth her unripe figs when she is
shaken of a great wind. 14 And the
heaven was removed as a scroll when it
is rolled up: and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the
princes, and the 1 chief captains, and the
rich and the strong, and every bondman
and freeman, hid themselves in the caves
and in the rocks of the mountains; 16
and they say to the mountains, and to
the rocks, Fall on us. and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb: 17 for the great day of their
wrath is come; and who is able to
stand?
*Or, military tribunes; Gr. chiliarchs
Vers. 12-17. The Sixth Seal.
(See Matt. 24.29 and Joel 2.31.)
Ver. 12. The Sixth Seal, says Elliott, of the Consecutive Historical
School, surely betokened some sudden and extraordinary revolution in the
Roman empire which would follow chronologically after the era of mar¬
tyrdom depicted under the Seal preceding; a revolution arising from the
triumph of the Christian cause . This he declares to have taken place under
5 77
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Constantine, and calls it the dissolution of the Pagan firmament, the expres¬
sions concerning the earthquake and the heavenly firmament being all taken
metaphorically as referring to political changes.
Alford, on the other hand, representing the Continuous Historical
School, says, “We may unhesitatingly set down as wrong all interpreta¬
tions which view as the fulfillment of this passage any period except that
of the coming of the Lord."
Craven says, “That the Sixth Seal introduces the end of the age and
the coming of the Lord for the establishment of the Kingdom there can be
no doubt; that it in any proper sense can be said to usher in the final con¬
summation and the final judgment is exceedingly questionable. If the
earth quaked and the rocks rent and the sun was darkened when the God-
man died, is it not rational to expect in view of these prophesies that simi¬
lar portents will precede or accompany His second coming to Glory?"
Alford further says, “Thus we are brought to the very threshold of
the great day of the Lord's coming, to the time described in Matt. 24.30.
But before He comes His elect must be gathered out."
On the other hand Dusterdieck says, “It is the subject of a vision
and not something objectively real and when it occurs no further life on
this earth will be possible as the day of the Lord will have come and the
final judgment have taken place", while Lange says, “It is the catastrophe
of the final judgment, the finale of this world’s history.”
The only difference between the view of Alford and those of his
school and the Futurist on this point is that Alford thinks of the saints as
going through the period of Great Tribulation and being caught up at the
close of this Tribulation just before the Lord descends, while the Futurist
school thinks of the saints as having been caught up before the period of
the Great Tribulation and the coming of the Lord here under discussion as
occurring at the close of the tribulation period, some years, usually figured
as seven, after the Rapture of the saints.
’’the whole moon became as blood”, —i. e., the full moon.
Ver. 1 3. “as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs’, —It is perhaps winter
figs that are here meant which always fall off unripe.
Ver. 14. “as a scroll when it is rolled up”, —Since the heavens
stretch out like a sheet they are said to vanish as a scroll. (Isa. 34.4.)
“every mountain and island were moved out of their places”, —The
earth’s foundations to be overthrown.
Says Alford, “This total disruption shall be the precursor of the new
earth just as the pre-adamic convulsions were preparative for its present
occupants."
Ver. 15. “ the strong”, —The special reference here is to the physi¬
cally strong.
Ver. 17. “ who is able to stand”, —i. e., to stand justified before
the judge and not be condemned.
Entirely groundless are the allegorical interpretations which find here
only figurative prophecies of events pertaining to the development of the
Church; viz.:
1. The earthquake means “revolutions in political or ecclesiastical
spheres." (V. Boe.)
578
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
2. The sun darkened means “the blasphemed Christ" (Ly.),
"prophecy" (Doc.), "worldly emperors and kings" (V.).
3. The blood red moon means "the Church reddened by the blood
of martyrs" (Ly. Are.), “the law" (Boe.), "spiritual princes"
(V.).
4. The fallen stars mean "the fallen exalted Church teachers" (Ly.
V.), "the Jews who desert Christ for Judaism" (Boe.).
5. The mountains mean "prophets and philosophical pursuits"
(Are.).
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 After this I saw four angels stand¬
ing at the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth,
that no wind should blow on the earth,
or on the sea, or upon any tree. 2 And
I saw another angel ascend from the
sunrising, having the seal of the living
God: and he cried with a great voice to
the four angels to whom it was given to
hurt the earth and the sea, 3 saying,
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor
the trees, till we shall have sealed the
Servants of our God on their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them that
were sealed, a hundred and forty and
four thousand, sealed out of every tribe
of the children of Israel:
5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed
twelve thousand;
Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thou¬
sand;
'(Jr. bondservants
Vers. 1-8. THE SEALING OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR
Thousand.
Ver. 1. " after this", —Showing that the Sixth Seal is complete and
that Chap. 7 comes in as an episode and parenthetically (A. F. D. Ei.
Ew. Eb. Hen. Dus.), although Elliott contends that the two visions of
this chapter constitute the second half of the Sixth Seal.
"four angels", —Not bad angels (B. Ze. Ca. Are.), nor necessarily
the " angels of the winds" (D. Zu, Lap.) Chap. 16.5, but "at the four cor¬
ners of the earth", i. e., the four cardinal points from which the winds
blow.
Ver. 2. " Another angel", —Not Christ (Be. Ze. Ca. Hen.) nor an
archangel (Stern), nor the Holy Spirit (V. L.), but simply an angel.
(A. B. D. Ew. Eb. Dus.)
"from the sun-rising", —The east designated not because of the
Christian lands where the Gospel light first shone (Stern), nor because
omens from the east were thought to be favorable (Bio,), nor because the
Jews always turned first toward the east (D.), nor because the throne of
God whence the angel proceeded is regarded as in the east (Ew.), nor
because plagues have their origin in the east (B.), but because it is the side
Of the tribe of Gad twelve thou¬
sand;
6 Of the tribe of Asher twelve thou¬
sand;
Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve
thousand;
Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve
thousand;
7 Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thou¬
sand;
Of the tribe of Levi twelve thou-
-sand;
Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thou¬
sand ;
8 Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thou¬
sand;
Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thou¬
sand;
Of the tribe of Benjamin Were sealed
twelve thousand.
579
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
from which life and light are brought by the sun (A. Eb. Dus. Hen. Lap.
Vol. Weid.), and thus, as Alford further says, it agrees with the angel's
salutary and victorious work.
"seal” —What is on it?
1. The stamp of the cross. (Be. Lap. Gro. Boe.)
2. The name of God and the Lamb. (D. A. Eb. Ew. Ei.) This is
the more likely view but the text says nothing.
"living God”, —Because it is He as the living God who gives life (B.
Ew. Dus. Hen. Kli.) and also as giving to the seal solemnity and vital
import. (A. D.)
‘‘great voice ”,—Not used here as referring to the certainty of the
command (Hen.), nor to his desire to restrain the angels anxious to begin
(B.), but perhaps that the call might penetrate to the ends of the earth
where the angels were. (Dus.) It is, however, peculiar to heavenly beings.
Ver. 3. “hurt not the earth”, etc., —The meaning is that they were
not to hurt the earth by letting the winds loose which, as yet, they were
holding in. (A. V. D. Ew. Eb. Dus. Hen. Lap.) It does not mean by
restraining the winds and so allowing the earth to become parched and
sultry. This last would make the cry a command to let the winds loose.
(Her.)
‘‘we”, —i. e., the angel and his associates, who need not be further
mentioned. Not necessarily the four angels assisting (Hen.), nor the
Father and the Son (Ca.), although these explanations are possible.
‘‘the servants of oar God”, —By some this is taken as Israel alone,
i. e., Jewish Christians, while by others it is taken as the Israel of God, i. e.,
Christians in general. The expression because of the article could be
taken in the latter sense. However, see explanation further on.
‘‘on their foreheads”, —The noblest as well as the most conspicuous
part of the body.
Ver. 4. ‘‘And I heard”, —i. e., probably from the other angel of
verse 2.
"a hundred and forty and four thousand”, —Twelve times twelve
taken one thousand times, the symbol of fixedness and full completion, and
perhaps not a literal number at all. Alford says, "No one that I am aware
of has taken the 144,000 literally". He thinks it means a full, complete
number known to the Lord and none of whom shall fail. In latter years,
however, some have taken it literally, just 144,000, as Seiss for instance.
What is the Purpose of This Sealing?
1. Exemption from tribulation; that is, they are not to experience
the impending visitations. (A. V. B. D. F. Eb. Ew. Ei. BI. Hil.
Hen. Hei. Lap. Stern.) They point to Exodus 12.7,13; Ezek.
9.4, and Rev. 9.4. Dusterdieck says in reply that in Exodus and
Ezekiel it was not a sealing but a marking for the specific purpose
of assuring those thus marked of the impending judgments, and
that in Rev. 9.4 it is a special case of exemption from the plague
from the abyss, but not because they as sealed were thus secure
from all plagues. He further says the view under consideration
580
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
is against the teaching of the New Testament in general (Matt.
24.30) and against the Apocalypse in particular which admon¬
ishes to patient steadfastness to the end in the midst of trial and
tribulation. Fausset says the saints are not to be thought of as
exempt from all trial (see verse 14) but their trials are distinct
from the destroying judgments that fall on the world, because
from these they are exempt as were the Israelites from the destroy¬
ing plagues of Egypt. With this Alford agrees and says Dus-
terdieck’s trouble comes from failing to note this distinction. He
says further that the four angels are commanded not to begin
their work of destruction until the sealing has taken place and for
what imaginable reason could such a prohibition be uttered, unless
those who were to be sealed were to be marked out for some pur¬
pose connected with that work, and for what purpose could they
thus be marked out if not for exemption?
2. Not exemption from tribulation but preservation in tribulation.
(El. St. Dus. Sei. Gab. Sco. Pet. Weid. Moor.)
The preservation in question is a preservation from apostacy under
tribulation, says Weidner. Dusterdieck remarks that, “The ser¬
vants of God do not remain entirely untouched by all the suffer¬
ings whereby judgment comes upon the world, but their sealing
designates the immutable firmness of their election which is not to
be affected even by the trial of the last Great Tribulation." "The
purpose of the seal", says Stuart, "was to make them secure against
all harm."
The arguments for the first view do not seem sufficiently strong
to guarantee it and we are at this juncture inclined to the second
view, namely of preservation in tribulation.
Who Are the Sealed?
1. Jewish Christians only. (F. B. G. Ei. Eb. St. Au. Zu. Dus. Gro.
Bui. Ire. Hof. Bio. Hei. Gab. Sco. Pet. Sei. Tor. Mor. Bla. Weid.
Moor. Burger, and all Futurists.) In proof of this it is affirmed:
(a) It does not say "Israel" nor the "children of Israel", but it does
say the "tribes” of the children of Israel and then proceeds to
mention them by name.
(b) If the elders be taken as representing the glorified Church, then
they appear in Chap. 14.3 as a wholly distinct body from the
144,000.
(c) These same 144,000 in Chap. 14.4 are called the 4 'first-fruits
unto God and the Lamb”. But this they were anyhow if they
are to be taken as the representatives of redeemed humanity, of
the glorified Church, and therefore the 144,000 must be the
first-fruits unto God of another order.
Weidner remarks that though Israel may elsewhere mean spirit¬
ual Israel, the Israel of God, it is not so written here.
Fausset says, "Out of the Tribes a believing remnant will be
preserved from the judgments which shall destroy all the anti-
christian confederacy, which remnant shall faithfully resist the
seductions of the Antichrist, while the rest of the nation restored
to Palestine in unbelief are his dupes and at last his victims."
581
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
2. The elect of the Lord, i. e., spiritual Israel, the Israel of God,
Christians in general. (A. D. L. V. Kl. Me. Ph. EL Hen. Wor.
Kli. Gebh. Beck.) In proof of this it is affirmed:
(a) That no good reason can be conceived why only Jewish and not
Gentile Christians should be sealed.
(b) In Chap. 21.9 the Israel of God must be meant and it is an
accepted rule always to interpret an ambiguous term
by the use of the same term in the place or places where its
meaning is clear and unmistakable. Of course in Chaps. 2.9
and 3.9 real Jews are meant, but the circumstances there and
here are different.
(c) John in the Apocalypse makes no distinction between Jewish
and Gentile Christians and sometimes designates Christians as
Israel and sometimes as the elect of all nations and tongues or
as the elect of the earth.
(d) In verse 3 they are called absolutely the “servant of our God"
and in Chap. 14.1 they appear as the redeemed.
(e) Those coming forth (verse 14) are not such as have been pre¬
served in the calamities but such as were exempt from them.
(f) The 144,000 is a complete number and can hardly be Jewish
believers alone but must be the Church of Christ in its final
comprehensiveness.
(g) In Chap. 14 the vision of these same 144,000 follows the
description of the enemies of Christ as they have reference to the
whole Church and not to any one part of it; and at the same
time the vision precedes the vintage of the earth which is to be as
comprehensive as the whole Church of the redeemed the world
over.
(h) In Chap. 14 we have the “Father's name written on their fore¬
heads' and in Chap. 22 this is true of all the saints of God in
the New Jerusalem.
(i) The changes made in the tribes as given argues against taking
them as literal Israel.
(j) As the mark of the Beast is imprinted on all his followers so
ought we expect that the seal of God should be likewise stamped
on all His followers.
(k) As the plagues to come threatened all just alike, the Gentiles as
well as the Jews, so should the seal in like manner protect all
believers.
(l) If the Gentile Christians are not included in the 144,000 then
they are nowhere spoken of as sealed at all.
(m) To the twelve reasons already enumerated for taking the 144.-
000 as spiritual Israel, or Jewish and Gentile Christians com¬
bined, Hengstenberg adds yet another, namely, that it is to be
argued from the fact that John takes just 12,000 out of the
tribe, from the small tribes as well as from the large ones. “It
cannot be imagined”, says Bossuet, “that there were precisely
in each tribe twelve thousand elect, neither more nor less, to
make up this total number of 144,000."
582
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Dusterdieck replies in answer to
(a) that even though the sealing be referred only to Jewish believers,
even so it shows that the Gentile Christians in the innumerable
throng were not inferior in that which the sealing really meant;
(b) that Israel as used of the inhabitants of heaven is something
different from when it is used of people who are still upon the
earth, as is undoubtedly the case here, and though Israel may
elsewhere mean the Israel of God, Christians in general, it is
not so stated here;
(c) that this is not the case, and it can only be referred to Jewish
Christians here because the individual tribes of Israel are men¬
tioned bf name directly afterwards;
(d) that the designation of "the servants of our God” and ,4 the re¬
deemed” suit Israel, Jewish Christians, pre-eminently;
(e) that this rests upon a false conception that exemption from
instead of preservation in is meant, and upon the unjustifiable
transformation of the present “come” into a past tense, and
the confused conception of verse 14 in general.
It might further be said in reply to
(f) that the 144,000 as a complete number can apply to a complete
and well rounded number of Jewish Christians as well as to the
same idea with reference to Jewish and Gentile Christians;
(g) that while this is true it, by no means, furnishes any conclusive
proof that the 144,000 thus mentioned in Chap. 14 cannot
refer to Jewish Christians alone;
(h) that the Father’s name as written on the 144,000 in Chap. 14
and on all the saints of God in Chap. 22 is the indication of
their regeneration and has nothing to do with the seal mentioned
in this seventh chapter. The Father’s name on their forehead
is merely the indication that they are children of God and is
the foundation upon which the sealing takes place. The sealing
came later and they could not have been sealed had they not
prior to the sealing been born again and thus become the chil¬
dren of God bearing the Father’s name;
(i) that this argument is not at all conclusive;
(j) that this is an inference which is in some considerable measure
gratuitous;
fk) that while this would seem to be a natural conclusion it does
not, however, dispose of the fact that in God’s mind there may
have been sufficient reason for applying the seal to Jewish
Christians only as a part of His dispensational plan for His own
peculiar people;
(1) that while this is true the Gentile Christians, who are at least
included in the throng mentioned in verse 9 and who are before
the throne, etc., received everything which the seal could have
possibly meant to the Jewish Christians. The fact that they
are before the throne, etc., proves this, it would seem.
While the arguments for taking the ‘'sealed” as spiritual Israel are
not altogether conclusive, and some of them are of little if any value at all,
583
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
we find it very hard to get away from arguments such as those given under
(a) and especially under (b), to the last of which the reply of Dusterdieck
is not at all satisfactory, and we find ourselves inclined toward the view
which takes them as spiritual Israel, i. e., both Jewish and Gentile Chris¬
tians, although even in the moment of this decision we find ourselves won¬
dering whether after all the reference may not be to Jewish believers only,
as the naming of the tribes would seem to indicate.
It must not be overlooked that the tribes are also mentioned by name
in Chap. 21.12, not indeed so written in this book of Revelation but so
written upon the gates of the City of God.
It may also be said that the decision of this matter one way or the
other does not bring us into conflict with any other part of the Revelation,
and is therefore not a matter of vital importance.
When Does This Sealing Take Place?
1. The Consecutive Historical School refers the saints in question to
the converts of the faith, Jewish and Gentile, succeeding the age
of Constantine (El.) ; others refer them to the Albigenses and
the Waldensians; others to the Reformation period, and some to
the times after the fall of Bonaparte in 1815. Elliott says that
the four destroying tempest-angels are the “threatening tempest
of barbarians" destined ere while to desolate the Roman earth,
while the sealing was represented as a preservative. He identifies
the 144,000 with the innumerable throng of the second vision
in verse 9, and says this second vision of their ultimate blessedness
is given by way of encouragement. “The sealing," he says, “ap¬
pertains chronologically to the times following on the politico-
religious revolution under Constantine and his immediate success¬
ors in the fourth century, and the twelve tribes of Israel, and the
144,000 mentioned in them, designate respectively the visible
professing Church in the Roman empire, and Christ’s true Church,
the election of grace, gathered out of it."
2. The Synchronous Historical School refers the saints in question
to the elect of the Lord who shall be living upon the earth at the
time of the Second Coming of the Lord and so place the time of
this sealing before the Rapture of the Church, and thus cause the
Church, the saints of the latter days to go through the Great
Tribulation.
3. The Futurists, as a rule, place this sealing right after the Rapture
of the Church and usually refer it to what is known as the Rem¬
nant, i. e., Jewish believers only.
Placing the sealing after the Rapture does not, however, mili¬
tate against the view which takes the sealed ones as spiritual Israel,
inasmuch as there would be as many Gentiles as Jews who would
believe at a time like that.
Moorehead says, “The time of the sealing belongs almost cer¬
tainly to a point before the Tribulation begins, for these believing
Jews are no doubt the fruit of the testimony of the Two Wit¬
nesses, and if so, their sealing belongs to the time of the four
riders." In this, however, our author seems confused, since he
584
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
puts the four riders before the opening of the Seventieth Week,
and the preaching of the T wo Witnesses during the first half of it.
4. The Spiritual School of Interpretation refers the sealing to that
which is going on among the redeemed all the time while the
Church is on the earth. But this is a sealing of the Holy Spirit
that comes immediately at regeneration in the forgiveness of sins
(Eph. 1.13 and 4.30), while the sealing mentioned here is for
the particular purpose of protection.
5. The Preterists refer the passage to the Jewish Christians who
escaped to Pella at the time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and
the same reference is given to verses 1 5 and 1 7.
We think it better not to take this vision as belonging to the latter
part of Seal Six, as Elliott does, but to take it rather as a parenthetical
section, and refer the sealing in question to something still in the future,
for whatever else one may be inclined to say in favor of Elliott’s general
scheme of interpretation, his treatment of the two visions of this chapter
is not at all necessary to its consistency. But whether this sealing is to
be placed before or after the Rapture of the Church must wait on further
exegesis.
The Naming of the Tribes.
1. It does not follow any assignable principle.
2. Each tribe is given the same number. In the divine gifts of grace
all have like share.
3. The tribe of Dan is omitted. This is because:
(a) The Antichrist is to come from this tribe, say nearly all
ancient expositors (Gen. 49.17).
(b) It was the first tribe to fall into idolatry. (V. Wet. Hen.
Wor. and most expositors.) (Jud. 18.)
(c) It had long before been as good as extinct. (D. A. Ew. Eb.
Gro. Dus.) (I Chron. 4.)
4. Joseph is mentioned instead of Ephraim because of idolatrous
recollections concerning Ephraim (L. Dus.), or perhaps because*
by Joseph, Ephraim is meant. (A.)
3. Levi is included. "Since the Levitical ceremonies have been aban¬
doned Levi is found again on equal footing with his brethren.
All are priests: all have access, not one through the other, but
one with the other." (B. Dus. Mil.) But this is hardly a suffi¬
cient reason since in some of the Old Testament catalogues Levi
was not omitted.
9 After these things I saw, and be¬
hold. a great multitude, which no man
could number, out of every nation and
of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
standing before the throne and before
the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and
palms in their hands; 10 and they cry
with a great voice, saying.
Salvation unto our God who sit -
teth on the throne, and unto the
Lamb.
11 And all the angels were standing
round about the throne, and about the
elders and the four living creatures; and
they fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God, 12 saying.
Amen: ’Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honor, and power, and might, be
1 Gr. The blrsiing and the glory
585
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
unto our God a for ever and ever.
Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, say¬
ing unto me, These that are arrayed in
the white robes, who are they, and
whence came they? 14 And I ’say unto
him. My lord, thou knowest. And he
said to me, These are they that come
out of the great tribulation, and they
washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. 15
Therefore are they before the throne
3 Gr. unto the ages of the ages
s Gr. have said
of God; and they serve him day and
night in his ’temple: and he that sit-
teth on the throne shall spread his
tabernacle over them. 16 They shall
hunger no more, neither thirst any
more; neither shall the sun strike upon
them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb
that is in the midst fi of the throne shall
be their shepherd, and shall guide them
unto fountains of waters of life: and
God shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes.
4 Or, sanctuary
‘Or, before. See Chap. 4.6; comp 5.6
Vers. 9-17. The Saints of the Great Tribulation.
Ver. 9. “After these things', —This is doubtless another distinct
vision. (A. Dus. Crav.)
“before the throne and before the Lamb", —They were in heaven
itself as described in Chap. 4. Gaebelein says that this is an earth-scene
at the beginning of the Millennium, a millennial scene. But this will not
do. It is the same throne surrounded by the same elders, the same living
creatures and the same angels as in Chap. 4 and it will not do to shift
this scene from heaven to earth for the convenience of any preconceived
plan as to how the arrangements of those times should seem to be.
“arrayed in white robes", —Significant of their victory and also em¬
blematic of their righteousness. (Chap. 6.11.)
“palms in their hands", —The mark of festal joy.
Ver. 10. “salvation unto our God", —i. e., their salvation; the
praise for it.
Ver. 13. “one of the elders answered", —i. e., to John's thoughts
asking, as it were, the question which might have been expected to arise in
John’s mind. (F. B. Hen.) An elder from among the representatives ot
redeemed humanity is a fitting interpreter of the scene.
Ver. 14. “My Lord ",—An address of deep reverence.
“thou knowest", —i. e., I do not know, but thou dost. (A. F. B. D.
Ew, Hen. Dus.)
“They that come", —Not "came" (A. V.), nor "shall come" (Dus.
Hen.), as though the multitude was still on the earth, nor "coming" (L.),
as if the number was not yet completed, but “come", implying that they
have just come. (A. B. D. Ew.)
“out of the great tribulation", —The literal rendering is, "the tribu¬
lation, the great one," and it must therefore refer to the Great Tribulation
announced in Matthew 24.21, just before the coming of Christ in judg¬
ment and which, it seems, the Seventh Seal is to introduce. (D. Ew. Eb.
Hen. Dus.)
"The Great Tribulation," says Scofield, "is the period of unexampled
trouble predicted in the passages cited under that head from Psalm 2.5 to
Rev. 7.14 and described in Rev. 11-18. Irivolving in a measure the whole
earth (Rev. 3.10), it is yet distinctively ‘the time of Jacob's trouble' (Jer.
33.7), and its vortex is Jerusalem and the Holy Land. It involves the
586
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
people of God who will have returned to Palestine in unbelief. Its dura¬
tion is three and one-half years, or the last half of the Seventieth Week of
Daniel.”
“washed their robes and made them white ",—There is no reference
here to the blood of martyrs as if there was a cleansing power in martyr¬
dom. The robes are made white by the washing, and it is not that the
washing refers to forgiveness, and the making white to sanctification, as
Hengstenberg says. It was through their faith in Christ that their robes
were washed and made white.
Ver. 15. “and they serve him ",—i. e., doing whatever high and
blessed service He may delight to employ them in.
“day and night” ,—The meaning is “eternally” and the manner of
speaking is after our custom.
“spread his tabernacle over them“ ,—The literal is, “shall tabernacle
upon them,” an expression hard to represent in our language. No more
as in an earthly covering by pillars of smoke and fire, but as Dusterdieck
says, “in the heavenly immediateness". His dwelling among them is
secondary to the thought of His being their covert. The glory of Shekinah
or the over-shadowing presence of God is now to sink down from the
throne upon the blessed and spread itself out protectingly over them.
Ver. 16. “hunger no more neither thirst anymore' ',—i. e., as they
did when here.
“neither shall the sun strike upon them* ,—The thought relates itself
to the hot oriental sun in its overpowering effects.
“nor any heat”, —Heat that is intense like that of the sirocco. (See
Isa. 49.10 from which the whole sentence is taken.)
Ver. 17. “in the midst of the throne' ',—i. e., in the middle point
in front of the throne.
“It is not", says Dusterdieck, “without many tears that they come out
of the Great Tribulation, but when they have overcome, God Himself
shall dry their tears and change their weeping into joy."
Of Whom is This Innumerable Throng Composed and What
Relation Do They Bear to the 144,000?
They are not identical, as some would have us believe, because:
1. The first are numerable and the second are innumerable.
2. The first are sealed and of the second this is not said.
3. The first are on earth and the second are in heaven.
There are many views as to the relationship between these two groups
of believers, but perhaps those deserving the most attention are the follow¬
ing:
1. The first are Jewish Christians immediately after the Rapture and
the second are Gentile Christians on earth before the Millennial
throne (Gab.), or in glory as most of the Futurists believe. (Mor.
Tor. Sco. Pet. Bla, Sei, Moor.)
The remarks of G. Campbell Morgan, one of the prominent Futur¬
ists of our day, will be of interest just here. He says, “The passage refers
to the great company of those who come, not through trials such as yours
587
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
and mine, but, by God s grace, out of the Great Tribulation which follows
the taking away of the Church and the revealing of the man of sin. How
is this ingathering to be accomplished? I give you my answer with reserve,
because many devout students of prophetic truth differ with me here. Per¬
sonally, I am convinced that not all Christian people will be taken to be
with Christ on His return, but only those who by the attitude of their
lives are ready for His appearing. They who remain and pass through
the Tribulation will be awakened by the stupendous events of their times
to the privilege and responsibility of witnessing for the truth in that age.
Even in the day of Jewish sorrow God will dwell with His ancient people,
who will then become heralds of the Cross; and under stress of plague,
famine and suffering beyond imagination, an innumerable multitude will
'wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ Those
years will be such as the world has never seen—first, in regard to the mani¬
festation of evil in forms more awful than we have ever known; and,
secondly, in the marvelous crowding to Jesus Christ of a 'great multitude
which no man can number.' What of the Church during that time of
Tribulation? She is in the heavens with her Lord, all the retarding forces
and probationary days of earth being ended.”
Scofield, another of the Futurists, says, "The Great Tribulation will
be, however, a period of salvation. An election out of Israel is seen as
sealed for God (Rev. 7.4-8), and, with an innumerable multitude of
Gentiles (Rev. 7.9), are said to have come 'out of the great tribulation'
(Rev. 7.14). They are not of the priesthood, the Church, to which they
seem to stand somewhat in the relation of the Levites to the priests under
the Mosaic Covenant. The Great Tribulation is immediately followed by
the return of Christ in glory.”
2. The first are Jewish Christians and the second are Jewish and
Gentile Christians, the second being inclusive of the first. (B. F.
St. Zu. Ei. Dus. Bui. Hof. Gro. Hei. Weid.)
3. The first are Jewish and Gentile Christians and the second are
the same in larger numbers with Gentiles preponderating. (A.)
In keeping with former explanations we are inclined to this last
view, although we cannot agree with Alford as to whom this second and
innumerable group represents. He says it is the great final assembly of
saints in heaven after the last resurrection and after the final judgment of
the Great White Throne, which judgment, he says, is that mentioned in
Matt. 23.31-46, the scene here being that of all the assembled believers in
final gathering in heaven.
This cannot be. because it is said that they come out of the Tribula¬
tion, the great one, and this cannot be said of all the finally assembled
believers in heaven. It cannot be said of those who are saved during the
Millennium and it cannot be said of the millions who will have died
before the Great Tribulation. This being the case, the throng, although
innumerable, represents but a part, and a small part, of the sum total of
glorified believers who are finally to be assembled in heavenly glory.
This innumerable throng must therefore represent a scene in final glory
of those who pass through the Great Tribulation, and no reference is made
to the far greater number who are likewise to be assembled there with
them. Fausset and Lange say the expression, “the great tribulation” in¬
cludes retrospectively all the tribulations of which the saints of all ages
588
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
have had to pass through. With this Alford agrees, but how Alford can
arrive at such a conclusion after having himself called attention to the
original reading of the expression, " the tribulation , the great one is a
difficult thing to see. We believe a fair exegesis will compel one to take
the expression at its face value and to see in the innumerable throng, as
already stated, those who come out of the Great Tribulation which our
Lord foretold should come upon the earth during the last days .
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 And when he opened the seventh
seal, there followed a silence in heaven
about the space of half an hour. 2 And
I saw the seven angels that stand before
God; and there were given unto them
seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood
^ver the altar, having a golden censer;
and there was given unto him much'
incense, that he should 3 add it unto the
prayers of all the saints upon the golden
altar which was before the throne.
’Or, at
s Gr. give
The Seventh Seal.
Ver. 1. “he opened the seventh seal ",—
Of what docs the Seventh Seal consist?
1. Some make it to consist of the silence alone. (A. V. Hen.) But
certainly this will not do. After what took place in connection
with the other seals something in the way of a fullness of signi¬
ficant content is to be expected in the Seventh Seal.
2. Others refer it to the silence and to all that follows up to and
through verse 5. (Gab. Braun.) But this will hardly do, because
in verse 2 the trumpet angels have already entered, and verses 2
and 5 are a preparation for the following trumpets.
3. Others make it inclusive of all that follows, the silence, the offer¬
ing of the incense and the casting of the coals upon the earth, the
sounding of the seven trumpets and the emptying of the seven
vials. This view, which is supported by many authorities (B. D.
F. Eb. Ew. Ar. Ca. El. Dus. And. Are. Bui. Crav. Weid. Stern)
more strongly appeals to us, and a careful reading of the text seems
to confirm this conclusion.
“a silence in heaven —
What does this silence mean?
It refers doubtless to the anxious expectation of the heavenly inhabi¬
tants awaiting the contents of the Seventh Seal. (B. D. F. Eb. Ew. Ar. Ca.
St. Dus. Are. Hei. Crav. Weid. Stern.)
"Indicative of the solemn things which are now to come," (Gab.)
"The deep and fearful sympathy with the expected sequel." (St.)
"The heavenly company's silence of astonishment and fear at what
was about to happen." (Hei.)
4 And the smoke of the incense, 3 with
the prayers of the saints, went up before
God out of the angel’s hand. 5 And
the angel ‘taketh the censer; and he filled
it with the fire of the altar, and cast
it °upon the earth: and there followed
thunders, and voices, and lightnings,
and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels that had the
seven trumpets prepared themselves to
sound.
3 Or, for
4 Gr. hath taken
B Or, into
589
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“Expressing the solemnity of the crisis which has now arrived.”
(Weid.)
“The earnest, adoring expectation with which the blessed spirits and
angels await the succeeding unfolding of God’s judgments.” (F.)
Other explanations are:
1. Some, who think the Book consists of a triple series of visions
chronologically parallel with each other and each reaching on to
the consummation, explain the silence as the thousand years of
rest before the final period of eternity. (V. L. Tichonius.)
Elliott contends that this had been depicted before in the
palm-bearing vision of the Sixth Seal of Chap. 7, and further¬
more that a Millennium of joyous, active rest could hardly be
prefigured by a single half hour of silence in heaven.
2. Others, who likewise think of the visions as chronologically
parallel, explain the silence simply as a pause in the heavenly
representations indicative of a break of separation between the
two parallel series of prophecies. Thus Bullinger and Aretius
explain it as a mark of transition from the Seals to the Trumpets.
Elliott thinks in this case the silence ought to have occurred
before and not after the opening of the Seventh Seal, and that
furthermore, in this case there ought to have been a similar pause
between the second and third series.
3. Others who regard the contents of the visions as chronologically
consecutive, think the silence prefigures the Church’s silence in
prayer before the First Trumpet's sounding during the incense
offered by the angel priest, even as the Jews were wont to pray
silently in the court without, while the priest went within the
temple to offer incense (Luke 1.10). (Me. Dau. New.)
But the silence is here depicted as beginning before the action of
the angel-priest.
4. The peace and Sabbath-rest of the Church in some brief interval
between Antichrist's destruction and the second coming of Christ.
(Be. Hof. Chri.)
5. The silencing of Christ’s enemies. (Hen.) But how can we think
of enemies of Christ in heaven!
6. Alford thinks the reference is to the beginning of the eternal rest
in heaven and that it imports silence as to what the roll contains
so far as John is concerned, i. e., the withholding of that which
the Seventh Seal revealed. This author thus places the opening
of this Seal in heaven after the Millennium and at the time eternity
begins. He says, “The Day of the Lord’s coming is gone by
and this vision reaches far beyond it into the blissful eternity,
because then, and not till then, shall the Seventh Seal, which
looses the roll of God's eternal, be opened and the book read to
the adoring Church in glory.”
7. Elliott, in keeping with his scheme of interpretation representing
the tempest-angels as the symbols of barbarian invading hosts, says
the silence refers to stillness from storm in the firmamental heaven,
the four winds being authoritatively restrained from blowing, and
the expression is to be taken as indicative of the brief interval
590
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
between the opening of the Seventh Seal and the first outbreak
of the tempest of barbarian invasion, the matter affecting John as
the half hour's stillness before a storm might do in common life.
Ver. 2. " I saw”, —i. e., not at the end of the silence (A. Eb.), but
during the silence (L. Dus.), which lasted doubtless until verse 5.
"the seven angels”, —Not the archangels (D. Stern), nor the seven
spirits of God, Chap. 4.4 (Eu. Are.), nor seven angels selected from a
greater number on account of the seven trumpets (L. Eb. He.), but seven
particular angels as the definite article shows.
Ver. 3. " another angel”, —Not Christ (V. Se. El. Ca. Be. Gab.
Boe. Sco.), nor the Holy Spirit, both of which views are adopted in defer¬
ence to theological propriety; but an angel, a real angel; and not an angel
symbolical of Christ (A. Hen. Dus.), which latter view leads those who
hold it to resort to all sorts of arbitrary expedients in the interpretation of
what follows. No countenance is given by the above view to angelic
intercession. He is merely offering incense to mix with the prayers of the
saints and is serving only as a ministering spirit. Christ is the One through
whom the prayers are offered. “The angel does not," says Fausset, “pro¬
vide the incense; it is given to him by Christ, whose meritorious obedience
and death are the incense, rendering the prayers of the saints well-pleasing
to God.“
‘‘over the altar”, —He so presents himself to John's view that he rises
above the altar, the altar being between the angel and John.
“altar”, —This is not the altar of incense (D. Eb. Gro. Hen.) but
the altar of burnt-offering.
Ebrard s;>ys the first altar is the altar of burnt-offering and the second
one is the altar of incense, but this is a precipitate inference and uncalled
for inasmuch as a more definite description of this altar is given in the
last part of the verse, because the employment at the altar is there spoken
of. It is the same altar as in Chap. 6.9. There is nothing said in Leviticus
1 6 of an altar of incense and therefore appeal to that passage is not legi¬
timate.
“add it unto the prayers”, —So perfecting and making the prayers
efficacious as a sweet-smelling savor to God. (A. L. V. F. Ca. Dus.)
“all the saints”, —If the general scheme of interpretation presented by
the Consecutive Historical school of interpretation is to be accepted, it is
best to see with Elliott here a reference to the saints immediately after the
time of Constantine who were on earth during the years immediately fol¬
lowing A. D. 395, saints, by the way, whom Elliott conceives to be repre¬
sented by the 144,000 sealed ones and later by those of the palm-bearing
vision.
Alford and others, on the other hand, interpret these saints as those
of the whole Church of God as well as those of Chap. 6.9. But this is
hardly in keeping with the context, and besides the prayers of the martyrs
of the Church were not for vengeance, but the rather as Stephen cried,
“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."
If, therefore, we are to interpret this Seventh Seal as occurring in con¬
nection with the second coming of the Lord, it seems better to find here a
more special reference to the prayers of the saints who must pass through
591
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the Great Tribulation now about to be disclosed and which takes place
either just before the coming of the Lord, or as others (Gab. Sco. Pet. Mor.
Tor. Weid.) think, just after it, this view being confirmed by the fact
that the answer to the prayers of these saints is seen to bring severe judg¬
ments upon the earth.
Ver. 4. Weidner aptly says, “The whole imagery suggests that the
saints' prayers on earth and the angel's incensing in heaven are simultaneous
and that God will graciously hear the prayers of His saints during the
great trials which come upon the earth by means of the judgments disclosed
by the trumpets about to be blown."
Ver. 5. “ take the censer”, —i. e., after having shaken from it the
incense, and laid it down perhaps.
“cast it upon the earth”, —i. e., the fire, to signify that the answer
to the prayers was about to descend in the fire of God's vengeance upon the
ungodly of the earth (F. A. B. D. Ew. Lap. Dus. Hen.), and not, as
Barnes says, “to show that notwithstanding the prayers that would be
offered the judgments would come anyhow," nor, as Lange says, “the
fire was the fire of saving grace by which the earth is rendered capable of
bearing the judgments which follow".
“thunders, and voices, and lightnings and an earthquake”, —Sym¬
bolic precursors of the divine judgments about to be inflicted.
7 And the first sounded, and there was burnt up, and the third part of
followed hail and fire, mingled with the trees was burnt up, and all green
blood, and they were cast ^pon the grass was burnt up.
earth: and the third part of the earth
’Or, into
Ver. 7. The First Trumpet Judgment.
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School says the first four Trum¬
pet judgments were poured out upon the Roman earth, and that they
depict the destruction through a series of tempests (barbarian devastations)
successively affecting the third part of the Roman earth, sea, rivers and
luminaries or Roman rulers. The judgments of these Trumpets, he takes
with most English expositors, as the ravages of the Goths in the fifth
century which ended in the overthrow of the Western part of the Roman
Empire. The sun and other heavenly luminaries, he says, are well-known
symbols of earthly rulers.
Many of the Contemporaneous Historical School contend that the
prophecy begins again with the First Trumpet and recapitulates, the First
Trumpet running parallel with the First Seal, and so on. (V. L. Eb. Be.)
“Now he recapitulates," says Bede, “from the beginning in order to say
the same thing in another way."
Alford, however, of this same school, says that the vision of the
Trumpets takes up the great world-wide vision of the Seals at the point
where it was said to the vengeance-invoking martyrs that they should rest
awhile, and that the judgments of the Trumpets vision occur during the
time of that waiting.
Weidner of the Futurists says the Trumpet judgments are a recapitu¬
lation not so much of the six seals as of the Sixth Seal, disclosing more
fully the terrors that are to come upon the earth in connection with the
592
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
destruction of the Antichrist. Gaebelein of the same school says, 4 ‘The first
five seals would seem to constitute what Matt 24.8 calls the 'beginning
of sorrows', while the Trumpet judgments would seem the rather to intro¬
duce the Great Tribulation proper during the years immediately preceding
the coming of the Christ to destroy the Antichrist/’ This author is evi¬
dently right as to the Trumpet judgments. (Moor.)
The Preterists refer all these Trumpet judgments, of course, to the
Jewish-Roman war and events preceding the Destruction of Jerusalem.
Our attention is called by most exegetes to the fact that the first four
trumpets affect natural objects chiefly, while the last three, the woe trum¬
pets, are expressly said to be inflicted upon men. The language of these
judgments seems to be largely reproduced from the description of the
plagues of Egypt.
"hail and fire mingled with blood", —The "blood" here Elliott
refers to the destruction of life in connection with the Gothic invasions,
while the literalists, who look for the fulfillment as still in the future,
think of the hail-stones and balls of fire falling in a shower of blood as in
a shower of rain.
"the third part" ,—This Elliott refers to the Western division of the
Roman empire, one of its three divisions according to the tripartition in
A. D. 311. Mede thinks it refers to the whole Roman earth as constitut¬
ing about one-third of the known world at the time of the Evangelist.
Thus also Daubuz and Bishop Newton, while Alford, who shares here
very largely the views of the literalists, remarks with some force that a
comparison with Chaps. 6.8 and 11.15 shows the idea of amount and
not fractional division in strictness as being uppermost in the thought.
"The idea seems therefore/' he says, "to be that though the judgment is
to be fearful in extent, yet God spares more than He smites, two-thirds
escaping in each case while only one-third is smitten."
Gaebelein refers "the third part", repeatedly mentioned in these Trum¬
pet judgments, to the revived Roman Empire, though he gives no good
reason for this opinion.
The plague seems quite similar to that in Ex. 9.24. Weidner seems
wisely to say, "Why attempt to explain away the plain significance of this
trumpet judgment? If the ten plagues of Egypt were historical and were
visited upon the enemies of God's people, why may we not expect a repe¬
tition of these judgments in the days of the Antichrist? And although
we may not fully understand what special form these judgments may
assume, their reality, the certainty of their coming and their terribleness
are here clearly disclosed."
The Allegorists are quite as confused in their attempt at satisfactory
explanation. By "the third part" they say that simply a large part is
meant; by the "trees", the great ones of the earth are meant, the eminent
Jews; and by the "green grass" is meant the ordinary Jews. Stern refers
this judgment to the persecution of the Church by false heathen doctrines.
"Hail and fire" are referred to erroneous doctrines cast by Satan upon the
earth, the "trees" being the teachers of godliness and the "grass" the ordi¬
nary Christians. (Ar. Ze.) Ebrard refers the whole to spiritual famine.
Even Gaebelein passes, at this place, over into the Allegorical School and
593
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
makes the green things symbols of agriculture and commercial prosperity;
man’s boasted prosperity ending in great calamity.
Dusterdieck quite aptly remarks here, “To explain allegorically is an
undertaking, there being no ground for it in the text, that can lead to
nothing but arbitrary guess-work.”
Lange on the other hand says, “By sticking to the letter of the text
we arrive at the conclusion that one-third of the earth and one-third of the
trees and all the grass is burned up. All the abortive interpretations in
the world cannot make us abandon our conviction that the Apocalypse
has an allegorical meaning.”
8 And the second angel sounded, and
as it were a great mountain burning
with fire was cast into the sea: and the
third part of the sea became blood;
9 and there died the third part of the
creatures which were in the sea. even
they that had life; and the third part
of the ships was destroyed.
Vers. 8,9. The Second Trumpet Judgment.
Just as Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School interpreted the
First Trumpet as the Gothic invasion under Alaric, embracing chiefly some
dozen years from about A. D. 400 to A. D. 410, so he interprets the
Second Trumpet as the second Gothic invasion under Genseric in A. D.
429 in which upper Africa and the western part of the Mediterranean
were devastated, the creatures of the sea which had life, being the islands
of Sicily and Sardinia, and the ships destroyed being those of the Romans
in the harbors around Carthagena, the blood referring, as under the First
Trumpet, to the loss of life.
Perhaps as good an allegorical explanation as can be conjectured is
that of Gaebelein of the Futurist School, who says, “The sea here is typical
of nations; some kingdom internally on fire, signifying probable revolu¬
tion, will be precipitated into the restless sea of nations and the result will
be a still greater destruction of life and of commerce which is represented
by the ships.”
Others after all think it better to accept the plain signification of the
text as describing a great pestilence, the reference being to a burning mass
so large as to look like a mountain (“and as it were ”). or perhaps a meteor
falling into the sea and causing putrescence and the destruction of many
ships of commerce. (See Ex. 7.20,21.)
The judgments of these plagues are apparently those which in Chap.
7.3 were held back until the sealing took place, and must consequently,
many think, be in very close conjunction with the coming of the Lord
to destroy the Antichrist.
10 And the third angel sounded, and
there fell from heaven a great star,
burning as a torch, and it fell upon the
third part of the rivers, and upon the
fountains of the waters: 11 and the
Vers. 10,11. The Third Trumpet Judgment.
Ver. 10. “there fell from heaven a great star ”,—This star in falling
scattered its sparks and fell upon a third part of the fresh waters of the
earth.
name of the star is called Wormwood:
and the third part of the waters became
wormwood; and many men died of the
waters, because they were made bitter.
594
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Vcr. 1 L The star is called in Greek "absinthe," i. e., "wormwood,”
because it made the waters bitter and many who drank died from the effects
of the poisonous bitterness.
This Third Trumpet is referred by most of the Consecutive Histori¬
cal School to the third stage of the Gothic irruption, the "great star" being
Atilla, "the scourge of God," who also ravaged the Western or third part
of the Roman Empire during the years around A. D. 450.
Among the Futurists, Weidner says, "There shall come a time when
as a divine punishment men will drink again of ‘the waters of Marah ' (Ex.
15.23-25) for which there is no healing, and in many cases death shall
result as in the days of Elisha (II Kings 2.19-21)", while Gaebelein, of
the same school, joins with the Allegorists, and refers it to some apostate
and thinks it may refer to the Antichrist himself.
By Lyra it is referred to Pelagius, by Luther to Origen, by Bengel
and Vitringa to Arius and by Laurentius to Gregory the Great; all of which
show how really arbitrary this method of interpretation really is and how
hopeless is the task of ever trying to solve the problem from their stand¬
point.
Petingill says the star symbolizes Satan, whose fall from heaven is
described in detail in Chap. I 2.
12 And the fourth angel sounded,
and the third part of the sun was smit¬
ten, and the third part of the moon,
and the third part of the stars: that
the third part of them should be dark¬
ened, and the day should not shine for
the third part of it. and the night in
like manner.
1 3 And I saw, and I heard *an eagle,
flying in mid heaven, saying with a
great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them
that dwell on the earth, by reason of
the other voices of the trumpet of the
three angels, who are yet to sound.
, Gr. one eagle
Vers. 12,13. The Fourth Trumpet Judgment.
Ver. 1 2. This plague is in many respects the same in character as
that in Ex. 10.21. "The absence of any instrument in this fourth vision,"
says Alford, "teaches us not to place too much import upon the instru¬
ments by which the previous judgments are brought about."
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School says that the reference of
this Fourth Trumpet is to the overthrow of the Emperor and rulers in
general of the Western division of the Roman Empire, the name and office
being abolished by Odoacer, the leader of the fourth stage of the Gothic
devastation about the year A. D. 476.
Others of the Contemporaneous or Synchronous Historical School
think it quite evident that this judgment runs parallel with the Sixth
Seal, while Gaebelein of the Futurist School says, "The sun is the symbol
of the highest authority, the moon of derived authority and the stars of
subordinate authority, and the symbolical meaning of this trumpet judg¬
ment is that all authority within the revived Roman Empire will be
smitten by the hand from above and as a result the most awful moral
darkness will ensue."
The Allegorical interpreters are guilty here, even as Lange admits, of
the most aimless and arbitrary play of interpretation, i. e., the troubling
of the Church by false brethren (Be.) ; heresy (Ly.) : Islam (Stern) :
political disorders (Wet. Her.).
595
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"the third part of it ",—Alford and Dusterdicck think the limitation
is manifestly to time, while Fausset and others (B. L. Kl. Zu.) think it
is to brightness, while the reference to the " night” is to the night, Alford
thinks, insofar as she is by virtue of the moon and the stars a time of
light. We have already seen that Elliott refers all this to the rulers of
the third part of the Roman Empire, the Western section of it.
Ver. 13. Tr an eagle ",—Not an eagle in the form of an angel (D. Ei.
Ew. Bl. Stern), but an eagle; and that not in antithesis to the dove (Hen.,
referring to John 1.36), nor as a bird of omen (Ew.), but far more
probably, "the symbol of judgment and vengeance rushing to its prey"
(A.). Nor is it to be identified with the eagles of Matt. 24.28, which is
a mere proverbial saying rather than a prophetic one.
“in mid heaven’’, —i. e., where the sun at noon-time reaches the
meridian and where the eagle could be seen and heard of all to whom its
message pertains.
“that dwell on the earth’’, —i. e., as in Chap. 6.10, the ungodly men
of the world.
The Preterists, of course, see in the eagle the eagle of the Roman
legions.
Allegorically the eagle is the voice of eminent teachers in the Church
(Be.) ; some prophet to be expected at the end of the world (Lap.) ;
Gregory the Great protesting against the title "Universal Bishop" (E.
Jo.); a special messenger, probably Christ Himself (Wor.). Weidner
remarks, "Is it any wonder that men regard the Apocalypse as an enigma
with such interpretations as guides."
CHAPTER NINE
1 And the fifth angel sounded and I
saw a star from heaven fallen unto the
earth: and there was given unto him
the key of the pit of the abyss. 2 And
he opened the pit of the abyss; and there
went up a smoke out of the pit, as the
smoke of a great furnace: and the sun
and the air were darkened by reason of
the smoke of the pit. 3 And out of
the smoke came forth locusts upon the
earth: and power was given them, as
the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was said unto them that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth,
neither any green thing, neither any tree,
but only such men as have not the seal
of God on their foreheads. 5 And it
was given them that they should not
kill them, but that they should be tor¬
mented five months: and their torment
was as the torment of a scorpion, when
it striketh a man. 6 And in those days
men shall seek death, and shall in no
wise find it; and they shall desire to
die, and death fleeth from them. 7 And
the 'shapes of the locusts were like unto
horses prepared for war: and upon their
heads as it were crowns like unto gold,
and their faces were as men's faces.
8 And they had hair as the hair of
women, and their teeth were as the
teeth of lions. 9 And they had breast¬
plates, as it were breastplates of iron;
and the sound of their wings was as
the sound of chariots, of many horses
rushing to war. 10 And they have
tails like unto scorpions, and stings;
and in their tails is their power to hurt
men five months. 11 They have over
them as king the angel of the abyss:
his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and
in the Greek tongue he hath the name
s Apollyon.
12 The first Woe is past: behold,
there come yet two Woes hereafter
’Or. likenesses
2 That is, Destroyer
Vers. 1-12. THE FIFTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT AND THE FIRST WOE.
Ver. L “a star from heaven ",—Not a good angel (B. D. Bl.
596
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
And.), for his description and his work refute this, but an evil angel (V.
Dus. Weid. Todd) ; doubtless Satan himself according to the analogy of
Isa. 14.12; Luke 10.18. (A. El. Me. Vol. Gab. Pet. Dau. New.)
" fallen unto the earth” t —It had already fallen when John saw it/
“the pit of the abyss”, —The present abode of the Devil and his
angels, as distinct from Gehenna, the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev.
20.10) which is to be their abode after the final judgment.
Ver. 2. " And he opened the pit of the abyss”, —To John in vision
it appeared as if this abyss was under the earth, having a shaft after the
manner of a well leading to it, says Weidner, and this well or pit was
shut down by a cover and locked.
Ver. 3. " And out of the smoke came forth locusts ",—It was not
an apparent mass of smoke which proved to be locusts (V. Ei. Zu. Eb.),
but the locusts ascended under cover of the smoke. (Ew. Dus.)
These infernal locusts differed from earthly ones in that God gave
them power to sting like scorpions, thus being able to hurt men, while
this is not true of earthly locusts.
Ver. 4. ”grass. . green thing. . .tree”, —i. e., the usual objects on
which locusts prey.
‘‘such men as have not the seal of God”, —This fixes the time of this
Fifth Trumpet after the sealing of Chap. 7. Gaebelein and others who refer
the sealed ones of Chap. 7 to Jewish believers only, the Remnant, maintain
that these unsealed ones upon whom the judgment falls must be unbeliev¬
ing Israel. But of this there is no hint in the text. The plague shall fall
upon all alike, whether Jews or Gentiles, if they have not the seal of God
on their forehead. Others say of this plague, that the saints are not par¬
takers. (F. Weid.) But they must be unless we include them among those
who are sealed, and think of the 144,000 as spiritual Israel, which inter¬
pretation neither of the authorities just quoted accept and we cannot see
therefore how they can consistently maintain their position.
Ver. 5. “not kill them” ,—i. e., the ungodly, the unsealed.
“five months” ,—The ordinary time during the year in which locusts
continue their ravages. (A. F. D. Ew. Ei. Ca. Dus.)
“their torment”, —i. e., the torment of the sufferers (A. F.), and
not of the locusts (Dus.), it being the objective and not the subjective.
Ver. 6. “seek death . . . desire to die”, —i. e., because of the excru¬
ciating pain of these tormenting locusts. The word really means to
"vehemently desire."
Ver. 7. “like unto horses ”,—This resemblance has often been
noted by travelers and is especially true when the horse is equipped for
war.
“crowns like unto gold”, —Dusterdieck refers this to the ragged ele¬
vation in the middle of the thorax, while Ewald refers it to the antennae;
but perhaps the best explanation is that of Alford, who says it refers to
"the crown-shaped fillet of the locust’s head resembling gold in material
597
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
just as the wings of some of the beetle tribe might be said to blaze with
gold and gems.''
“as men's faces", —Hengstenberg says this refers actually to faces of
men. This would be true if they were actually human soldiers; but the
text says only “as the faces of men". Attention has been called to the fact
that the head of a locust has actually a faint resemblance to the human
profile, which resemblance was even more noticeable in the case of these
supernatural locusts. (A. D. Zu. Ew. Dus.)
Ver. 8. “hair as the hair of women", —An Arabic proverb com
pares the antennae of locusts to the hair of girls. Ewald refers it to the
hair on their legs or bodies. These might be acceptable explanations, but
it belongs rather to the supernatural portion of our description. ,
“teeth of lions", —Illustrating their desolating voraciousness, the
teeth being rather to terrify than to bite. It is, however, another purely
graphic feature and does not apply to the plague to be inflicted. (A. Dus.)
(See Joel 1.6.) The Allegorists (Ca.) say the teeth refer to the false
doctrines with which heretics have lacerated the orthodox Church.
Ver. 9. "as it were breastplates of iron", —The plate which forms
the thorax, stronger than that of the natural locust, being as of iron. (A.
L. F. Dus.)
“as the sound of the chariots of many horses", —The natural locusts
in their flight make a most fearful noise, and the reference here is to the
mingled sound of chariot wheels and the hoofs of the horses, the chariots
being regarded as appendages to the horses.
Ver. 10. “tails like unto scorpions",—Another difference between
natural and demoniacal locusts. It is not that the tails themselves are like
unto scorpions (B. Hen., with an appeal to verse 19), but that they have
tails like unto scorpion tails. (A. L. Dus.)
Ver. 11 . “angel of the abyss", —Hardly Satan (F. Eb. Ca. Gro.)
nor the Antichrist. (Pet.) Some think him the same as the star in verse
1. (Hen. Wei.) We rather think of him as one of the chiefs among Satan's;
angels and who has special charge over the abyss. (B. A. D. Ew. Dus.
Weid.) His name is the Hebrew word for "destruction", namely “Abad¬
don", the Greek equivalent for which is "Apollyon", which comes from
the word meaning "to destroy", i. e., the Destroyer. His name is the place
of destruction personified. With the Jew, Abaddon is the lowest place
in hell. It designates in the Old Testament the kingdom of destruction
or corruption in a local sense, and so the angel who is the personal repre¬
sentative of the place is given the name.
The Preterist School refers this plague of the locusts to the Roman
wars in Judea (Gro. Wet. Her.), the "fallen star" being the demon Nero.
The Allegorists make the locusts heretics raging against the orthodox,
of the Zealots of the Jewish war.
The Spiritualist system of interpretation says that the woe is obvious¬
ly spiritual and cannot find its fulfillment in mere wars or calamities ot
any kind; that the woe falls upon the whole world but that it is not
allowed to affect the redeemed Church.
598
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Alford of the Contemporaneous Historical School says, “There is an
endless babble of allegorical and historical interpretation of these locusts
from the pit. The most that we can say of their import is that they belong
to a series of judgments on the ungodly which will immediately precede
the second advent of our Lord; that the various mysterious particulars of
the vision will no doubt clear themselves up to the Church of God when
the time of its fulfillment arrives; but that no such clearing up has yet
taken place, a very few hours of research among histories of Apocalyptical
interpretation will serve to convince any reader who is not himself the
servant of a preconceived system."
The Consecutive Historical School in general refers it to the ravages
of Mohammedanism, the Saracens or Arabs out of Arabia, that part of
the earth which their devastations covered being the eastern part of the
Roman empire. (N. Me. El. Wor. Bar. Will. Dodd. Dau. Scot. Keith.
Faber. Frere.) The locust itself, Elliott contends, is peculiarly Arabic,
while each part in the description of these strangely constructed locusts was
peculiarly figurative of the Arabs, even to the beard which he supposes to
belong to the faces which were “as the faces of men”. The abyss, he
thinks, signifies the prison-place of evil spirits, and it is figurative of the
false religion of Mohammedanism, and it was out of this, after embracing
Islamism, that the Arabian (Saracen) hordes burst forth in fury on
Roman Christendom.
Elliott declares it to have been a peculiarity of the Saracens that they
did not destroy the trees or any green thing. They were only to torment
and not to kill or annihilate politically Roman Christendom and this
Elliott declares to have been true of them because of the many checks given
them in their career of devastation and destruction. The five months, or
150 days he interprets as 150 years, according to the year-day theory, and
finds this time as fixed between Mohammed’s public opening of his mission
A. D. 612 and the removal of the Caliphate to Bagdad in A. D. 762.
That there is a remarkable parallelism between this prediction and
the rise and progress of the Mohammedan power the candid student must
admit. Even Kelly, a staunch Futurist, admits the interpretation to be
well founded. “The difficulty lies, however, in this,” says Moorehead,
“that the Woe Trumpets sound at the time of the end, in Daniel's Seven¬
tieth Week, and hence events which occurred a thousand years ago cannot
possibly exhaust this mighty prophecy. They adumbrate it, but are not
its complete fulfillment."
The fact that in these wars as waged by the Saracens many of the
saints, the sealed ones, were made to suffer and were killed weighs heavily
against this view, as it likewise does against the allegorical view.
Of the Futurists some think the locusts symbolize evil spirits, demons
(Gab.), while others think that literal locusts are intended. (DeBurgh.)
Moorehead takes the locusts as the symbol of an invading army, even as
does Elliott, although the former places the event in the time of the end.
This invading host he thinks identical with Ezekiel’s Gog, prince of Rosh,
and suggests that Russia will have the chief part in this invasion supported
by swarms of other peoples, animated by a satanic spirit and filled with
the fury of demons. Hebart looks for the fulfillment in the future appear¬
ance of just such locusts. He says, “The fact that such creatures have never
yet been seen ought not make us conclude that they never can or never will
599
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
come. In the last times many things until then unheard of shall come to
pass—much hitherto unseen shall greet mortal eyes." Dusterdieck remarks,
"He who like Hebart looks for the literal fulfillment of all these visions,
expecting for instance the actual appearance of the locusts described, cer¬
tainly does more justice to the text than does the allegorist."
If the Futurist explanation be adopted there is no good reason why
the literal interpretation of Hebart and DeBurgh should not be accepted,
although the view of Gaebelein and others, who see in the locusts only
symbols of demon powers might appear to be attended with less difficulty.
1 3 And the sixth angel sounded, and
I heard 'a voice from the horns of the
golden altar which is before God, 14
one saying to the sixth angel that had
the trumpet, Loose the four angels that
are bound at the great river Euphrates.
15 And the four angels were loosed,
that had been prepared for the hour
and day and month and year, that they
should kill the third part of men. 1 6
And the number of the armies of the
horsemen was twice ten thousand times
ten thousand: I heard the number of
them. 17 And thus I saw the horses
in the vision, and them that sat on
them, having breastplates as of fire and
of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the
heads of the horses are as the heads of
lions: and out of their mouths pro-
*Gr. one voice
ceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.
1 8 By these three plagues was the third
part of men killed, by the fire and the
smoke and the brimstone, which pro¬
ceeded out of their mouths. 19 For
the power of the horses is in their
mouth, and in their tails: for their tails
are like unto serpents, and have heads:
and with them they hurt. 20 And the
rest of mankind, who were not killed
with these plagues, repented not of the
works of their hands, that they should
not worship demons, and the idols of
gold, and of silver, and of brass, and
of stone, and of wood; which can
neither see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 and
they repented not of their murders, nor
of their sorceries, nor of their fornica¬
tion, nor of their thefts.
Vers. 13-21. The Sixth Trumpet Judgment.
Ver. 13. “golden altar ",—The same as in Chaps. 6.9 and 8.3
“a voice *,—The voice probably proceeded from the altar itself
(Chap. 16.7) and the command to the angel to loose the four angels is
the result of the prayers of the saints offered on this altar, and it is repre¬
sented as uttering the cry of vengeance for the blood shed on it (Chap
6.9), i. e., the answer to the prayers bringing down the fiery judgments.
(A. D. F. Eb. Bl. Kli. Hof. Hen. Dus.) Literally it is "one voice", but
this is not to be interpreted as "the four horns giving forth simultaneously
one and the same voice" (Hen.), because not only does the "four" not
belong to the text, but the sense itself is forced and feeble.
Ver. 14. Alford rightly says that this sixth angel is not necessarily
by the text made the active agent in the loosing of the four angels. It
says "they were loosed/’ and the sixth angel may have been addressed only
as the herald and the representative of what was to take place.
“the four angels *,—These four angels are hardly to be identified
with the four angels of Chap. 7.1-3 (El. Wor. Hei.), because their mission
and their locality are altogether different. Hengstenberg and others (D.
Dus.) would have us believe that the word "four" indicates perhaps that
the army is to be led on all four sides of the earth.
Some say they are good angels (Hen. Wor.), but it is far better to
think of them as evil angels, as seen from the fact of their being bound
and their leading an infernal army, and also from their position, i. e., on
600
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the Euphrates. (B. Be. Ew. Eb. St. Dus. Will. Weid. Stern.) Moorehead
thinks they may refer merely to the providential restraints of armed forces
from the east.
“Euphrates”, —Whence all the chastisements of Israel have always
come. Todd calls our attention to the fact that "it was the almost uni¬
versal opinion of the ancients that Antichrist was to arise from this
region".
Dusterdieck maintains that the river cannot be taken literally because
the rest of the vision, the army, etc., must be taken mystically. But this
is a mistake. In Psalms 88.8 the vine, boughs and branches are of course
mystical, while Egypt, the sea and the river are literal: Just so here there
is nothing to prevent the Euphrates being taken literally, as Alford says,
even though the army and the angels be taken mystically.
The Preterists refer this of course to the army of Titus against Jeru¬
salem. (Ei. Gro. Wet. Her. Hei.)
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School, taking the Euphrates
literally, of course, refers this Sixth Trumpet to the invasion of the Turk¬
man power which dwelt beyond the Euphrates, the " third part of men”
referring to the Grecian Empire as at that time (about A. D. 1055) consti¬
tuting one of the third parts of the Roman world. (Thus also V. N. Me.
Dau. Dodd. Faber, Forbes, Keith and others.)
The Futurists for the most part refer the army not to a human but
to an infernal host constrained to work out God’s will during the days
of the Great Tribulation. (F. Dus. Weid.)
Moorehead, however, says, "This great army is human, and not a
countless multitude of evil spirits, as some think. It may be the imperial
army of the Antichrist and possibly consist mainly of Mohammedans.
There is a parallelism between this prediction and the interpretation of
Elliott, but if the invasion of western Asia by the Turks be conceded to
be an accomplishment of the vision, it was but a partial and anticipatory
one, because the vision belongs specifically to the time of the end."
Ver. 15. “for the hour”, etc., —i. e., appointed by God. Only one
article is used, and by many it is taken as referring to the fixed hour in the
fixed day in the fixed month in the fixed year, this very hour being deter¬
mined by God. (V. St. Dau. Hei.)
Elliott contends that these time terms must be aggregated together and
so signify a continuous period, namely, the interval between the loosing of
the angels and their accomplishment of the stated purpose of their loosing,
viz., to slay the third part of men, the period from A. D. 1055 to the
capture of Constantinople by the Turks and the fall of the Grecian Empire,
namely A. D. 1453, this time period being worked out on the year-day
system.
“kill the third part of men”, —Elliott, as we have seen, refers this
to the eastern part of the Roman Empire, the Grecian division. Others
take it in what is seemingly its more natural sense that one-third of those
who dwell upon the earth (Chap. 8.13), the ungodly, shall perish, as
previously a third of the trees, ships and creatures were destroyed.
Ver. 16. " twice ten thousand times ten thousand”, —i. e., two
hundred million. Hengstenberg sees here only an allegorical collective
designation of all armies.
601
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Dusterdieck has something to say here worthy of thoughtful con¬
sideration. He says that John uses the Euphrates in a schematical way.
it being in the Old Testament the place from whence the plagues came
upon Israel, and so John works this idea into his scheme, the local desig¬
nation, as Hengstenberg says, "being only a seeming one". So here Dus¬
terdieck thinks the number is schematical, the army appearing in a super¬
natural numerical quantity and denoting nothing definite.
Elliott thinks it expressive merely of large numbers and refers it of
course to the soldiers and especially the horsemen of the Turks and Tartars,
who he says, by the way, had the custom of using the term myriads in the
numbering of their forces.
Beck and others interpret this immense army of a future literal army
and explain it by a universal war involving all races of men.
Petingill of the Futurists says it refers to the nations of the world
gathered against Israel to cut them off from national existence.
"I heard" ,—through the voice of prophecy.
Ver. 17. "in the vision", —Added not to show that the things
were merely seen (Hen.) and that the present vision is merely allegorical
(B. L. Hen.), but doubtless because what has thus far been made known
in the Sixth Trumpet vision has been heard. (A. Dus.)
"breastplates", —Referred by some (L. B. D. Bl. Ew. Heb.) to the
riders only; but rightly by others (A. Eb. Zu. Dus. Weid.) to both horses
and riders, although the horses are the main objects of interest and not
the riders.
"fire", —i. e., fiery red.
"hyacinth", —i. e., our dark blue iris.
"brimstone", —i. e., yellow, sulphur-colored.
These correspond to the fire, smoke and brimstone proceeding out
of the mouths of the horses.
Elliott says these descriptions suit well the uniforms of the Turkish
army.
"as the heads of lions", —The reference here is possibly to the size
of the mouths and the length of the manes; a definite monstrous appearance
rather than the idea of ferocity, though Elliott contends for the latter as
characteristic of the Turkish armies.
Ver. 18. Elliott refers the fire, the smoke and the brimstone of this
verse to the cannon as used by the Turks in their siege of Constantinople.
Others of the Futurist School refer them to three plagues of the latter
times. Weidner has remarked, and seemingly well, "that all this imagery
describes a judgment of plagues coming upon the earth in connection with
the days of the Antichrist is plainly evident, but to attempt to set forth
the exact character of the plagues would be the height of presumption,
because nobody knows."
Ver. 19. "the power of the horses is in their mouths", i. e., as seen
in the previous verse.
"and with them they hurt ",—i. e., by their fangs, their bite.
The fact that these horse-tails have "heads" Elliott thinks is sugges¬
tive of rulers, and in these tails he sees the horse-tails borne by the Turkish
602
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Shahs as symbols of authority. But what then becomes of their serpent¬
like character? Alford says of this view of Elliott’s. "I venture to say that
a more self-condemnatory explanation was never broached than this of
the horse-tails of the Shahs."
Among other allegorical and historical interpretations of these tails
the following may be mentioned, though, like Elliott’s, to one’s amuse¬
ment rather than to his edification.
1. Grotius, who as a Preterist connects the whole thing with the
destruction of Jerusalem, sees in them the foot soldiers on the
backs of the horses behind the horsemen.
2. Volkmar refers them merely to the "kicking back" of the horses.
3. Bengel sees in them the turning back of the Turkish cavalry to the
sudden detriment of their pursuers.
4. Hengstenberg finds in the expression the malignity of war symbol¬
ized.
Many, both of the Contemporaneous Historical and of the Futurist
Schools of interpretation, who contend for the parallelism of this Sixth
Trumpet with the Sixth Seal, would have us believe that events are
intended immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ to destroy
the Antichrist.
Ver. 20. "repented not ",—This and the following words show
that ungodly men are meant.
"the work of their hands ’,—The reference is more particularly to
the idols which their hands had made (A. F. B. Ew. Hen. Dus.) rather
than to the entire course of their life (D. Eb.). (See Acts 7.41 and Deut.
4.28.)
Ver. 21. The chief sins of the heathen. "It is clear," says Alford,
"that he is thinking of the heathen (A. Dus.), and even thus will the
heathen world continue in the main until the second coming of Christ of
which these judgments are the immediate precursors." (See Gal. 5.20.)
Ludhardt says, "Such moral corruption will occur at the end in spite
of advanced culture; for culture of itself does not promote morality, but as
history teaches, may be employed as well in the service of ungodliness and
immorality."
Elliott, of course, refers verses 20 and 21 to the religious state during
the time between the fall of Constantinople and the Reformation.
CHAPTER TEN
1 And I saw another strong angel
coining down out of heaven, arrayed
with a cloud; and the rainbow was
upon his head, and his face was as the
sun, and his feet as pillars of lire; 2 and
he had in his hand a little book, open:
and he set his right foot upon the 6ea,
and his left upon the erath; 3 and he
cried with a great voice, as a lion roar-
eth: and when he cried, the seven thun¬
ders uttered their voices. 4 And when
the seven thunders uttered their voices, I
was about to write: and I heard a voice
from heaven saying. Seal up the things
which the seven thunders uttered, and
write them not. 5 And the angel that
1 saw standing upon the sea and upon
the earth lifted up his right hand to
heaven, 6 and sware by him that liveth
*for ever and ever, who created the
heaven and the things that are therein,
and the earth and the things that are
’Gr. yrtio the ages of the ages
603
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
therein, and the sea and the things that
are therein, that there shall be Melay no
longer; 7 but in the days of the voice
of the seventh angel, when he is about
to sound, then is finished the mystery
of God, according to the good tidings
which he declared to his Servants the
prophets.
8 And the voice which I heard from
heaven, I heard it again speaking with
me, and saying. Go, take the book
which is open in the hand of the angel
that standeth upon the sea and upon
the earth.
2 Or, time
3 Gr. bondservants
9 And I went unto the angel, saying
unto him that he should give me the
little book. And he saith unto me,
Take it, and eat it up; and it shall
make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth
it shall be sweet as honey. 10 And I
took the little book out of the angel's
hand, and ate it up; and it was in my
mouth sweet as honey; and when I had
eaten it, my belly was made bitter. 1 1
And they say unto me, Thou must
prophesy again 4 over many peoples and
nations and tongues and kings.
*Or, concerning
Vers. 1-11. The Strong Angel and the Little Book.
Vcr. 1. As after the Sixth Seal, so after the Sixth Trumpet we seem
to have a passage containing two episodes, a parenthetical passage contain¬
ing the incidents of the little book and the two witnesses. (Chap. 10.1 to
Chap. 11.14.)
“another strong angel”, —Many refer this, and not without consid¬
erable propriety, to Christ Himself. (V. Be. Me. Ze. EL Ar. Al. Ca. Hen.
Gab. Pet.) But not only is the very style of the oath seemingly inappro¬
priate to Christ, but throughout the book when angels are mentioned it
is to ministers of the divine purpose that reference is made, and when John
means to indicate the Son of God he does so in plain and unmistakable
language.
Others say the reference is to an angelic image of Christ (L. Wor.).
But the text says “angel”, and further than this we need not go, and he is
therefore to be thought of as an angelic minister of Christ. (A. F. B. D.
Dus. Lap. Sad. And. Sim. Weid. Boyd. Carp. Stern.)
“another”, —This is doubtless to distinguish him from the strong
angel of Chap. 5.2, who also had a book (A. B. F. Eb. Dus.), and not
from the foregoing angels of the trumpets (D. L. Hen.).
“arrayed with a cloud”, —i. e., as a messenger of divine judgment.
(A. F. Eb. Dus. Hen.)
“the rainbow was upon his head”, —Notice the definite article “the ”.
i. e., the well-known rainbow, the emblem of covenant mercy to God’s
people.
“his face was as the sun”, —i. e., indicating the divine glory with
which he was invested.
“his feet as pillars of fire”, —Another emblem of judgment, the whole
of the symbols betokening perhaps judgment tempered with mercy.
Ver. 2. “in his hand”, —Doubtless the left hand. (See verse 5.)
“a little book”, —i. e., a little scroll. It is called “little” perhaps in
comparison with the larger book in Chap. 5 (A. F. Ew. Dus.), rather
than with reference to John’s eating it (Ei.), or in comparison to the
size of the angel (B.).
“and he set his right foot”, etc., —The whole imagery would seem to
represent the glory and majesty of Christ whose messenger the angel is.
604
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"Sea and earth/' says Alford, “are to be taken literally, and both are by
this action claimed as belonging to Christ, and indicate that the tidings to
be brought are for the whole earth, and that the power of God in judgment
extends over the whole world." John was no doubt thinking of the
Mediterranean and of Palestine.
Ver. 3. “and he cried", —What, the text in no way indicates. Hard¬
ly, as Bengel says, what is described in verse 6.
" with a great voice as a lion roareth", —Representing perhaps the
threatening character of the revelation.
"the seven thunders uttered their voices", —Wordsworth calls the use
of the article "the" here the prophetic use of the article, i. e., the thunders,
of which more hereafter. Ewald’s idea that it means all the thunders of
heaven, i. e., the whole heavens exclaimed with a thunderous voice, is
without foundation. I think perhaps the better explanation is that by
a part of the Apocalyptic symbolism they are marked by the article as
well-known, even as the seven stars, the seven churches, the seven seals,
the seven trumpets and the seven vials.
Ver. 4. “I was about to write", —i. e., in obedience to the command
of Chap. 1.19.
“and I heard a voice", —The voice of Christ, says Bengel, while
others claim it to have been the voice of the angel of Chap. 1.1. At best
it is but a conjecture.
"from heaven", —This does not compel us to think of John as being
on the earth (D. L.) any more than does verse 1.
“seal up the things", —i. e., by not writing them.
The Preterists see in the entire episode a prelude to the destruction of
Jerusalem.
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School says that the divine inter¬
vention portrayed by the opening clause of this chapter refers to the Refor¬
mation of the sixteenth century as inaugurated by Martin Luther, that the
“strong angel" of verse 1 is Christ, and that the “little book" is the open
Bible through the knowledge of which the Reformation was brought
about.
Others of the same school with Elliott (V. N. Me. New. Faber, Frere,
Cuninghame) refer the little book, like that in the commencement of the
prophecy in Chap. 5, to another prophetic roll, the same being called a
“little book" because it contained but a small portion of God's purposes,
and it was “open" because God was ready to disclose its contents.
What did the voices of the seven thunders utter? Whether the thun¬
ders spoke as one voice or whether each thunder spoke its own special voice
an intelligible revelation was brought to John thereby because he under¬
stood them and was about to write them for others. That the utterances
were of fearful import is implied by the thunder. Many think it is vain
to inquire what the voices uttered because no intimation whatsoever is
given in the text. There are, however, many conjectures:
(1) The praises of God. (B.)
(2) The seven Crusades. (V.)
(3) Emblems or warnings of the Seven Vials of the Seventh Trum¬
pet. (Me. Cuninghame, Bickersteth.)
605
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
(4) Seven wars between the Reformation and the sounding of the
Seventh Trumpet at the French Revolution. (Keith.)
(5) The echo of laws confirmatory of the Protestant doctrine of
seven kingdoms that embraced the Reformation. (Dau.)
(6) The blessed mystery of the new world. (Hof.)
(7) What is announced later concerning the destruction of the
enemies of God. (Hen.)
(8) Seven future acts of God to occur before the beginning of the
Seventh Trumpet. (Eb.)
(9) The Papal Anathemas during the Reformation. (El.)
This last conjecture brings before us Elliott’s explanation of the
“seven thunders” themselves. These he thinks of as referring to the Papal
Antichrist, which had arisen in the Church visible even before the days
of the Reformation, especially in Pope Leo the Tenth, who had assumed
for himself and had ascribed to him in various ways all the attributes of
the mighty angel Christ as mentioned in the three previous verses, th?
vision before us being that of Christ coming down to fight against th ; s
Antichrist and to claim this world as His own. Alford remarks that "no
interpretation could be more unfortunate—none more thoroughly condem¬
natory of the system which is compelled to have recourse to it. For, merely
to insist upon one point—if it were so, then the Apostle sealed the utter¬
ances in vain, for we all know what those thunders (the papal anathemas)
have uttered."
Why was John forbidden to write what the seven thunders uttered?
It was not that they exceeded human comprehension (Ew.), because John
understood them and was about to write them for others; not because
thereby the mysteriousness was increased (D.). The fact is that God
has given no account as to why. Of course we may readily surmise the
effect (and this may have also been in the aim), viz., the Godly are kept
from brooding over the evils to come, and the ungodly will know that all
the terrors of the judgment are not yet exhausted.
Ver. 6. Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School thinks that as
verses 1 and 2 gave to Luther and the Reformers a discovery of Christ and
verse 3 gave to them a discovery of the Antichrist, so what now follows
is a further revelation to them, in due chronological order of sequence,
signifying further advance and progress in the Reformation. They are
now shown, he says, that the ill-fated time of the Antichrist’s final fore¬
doomed destruction, and therewith also the coming of Christ’s kingdom,
and the ending of God's great prophetic mystery, is near at hand, though
indeed not yet fully come.
"him that liveth forever and ever*, —The Almighty God, as Creator,
who is to consummate the mystery of God, as noted in verse 7.
“there shall be delay no longer”, —Not as the Authorized Version
implies, that time shall end and eternity begin (Be. Are. Oec. Will.),
which view is refuted by the words of the first half of verse 7, and further¬
more by the fact that the next Trumpet was to issue in the reign of Christ
and His saints.
The words according to many authorities (A. F. V. D. Ca. Ew. Ei.
Gro. Dus. Lap. Hen. Moor, et al.) express the immediate consummation
of what in the next verse is called the fulfillment of the mystery of God.
606
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
And yet these authorities are by no means agreed as to the point of time
involved. Hengstenberg says it means that no time is to intervene between
the sound of the Seventh Trumpet and the fulfillment of the prophetic
oracles. But verse 7 says that the fulfillment of the mystery of God, the
fulfillment of all prophecy, is to occur just at the time of the Seventh
Trumpet. The real meaning is doubtless that no more time is to intervene
between the present point of time and the Seventh Trumpet which ushered
in the finishing of the mystery of God. (A. Eb. Dus. Gab. Wor. Weid.)
The appointed time of delay is at an end. The martyrs have no longer
to wait for the answer to their prayers (Chap. 6.11) ; the hour for ven¬
geance has struck.
Elliott translates, “there shall be time no longer extended,” and of
course means thereby that time shall no longer be extended to the myster¬
ious dispensation of God which has so far permitted the reign of evil includ¬
ing the power of the Papal Antichrist's mock thunders, the Seventh Trum¬
pet's era being its fixed determined limit.
Ver. 7. When the Seventh Trumpet sounds, the completed time of
the fulfillment is, as Alford says, simultaneous with his blowing, so that
it is properly said that the fulfillment comes in the “days when he is about
to sound”.
“in the days ',—Bengel says that the angel is heard continuously
throughout these days. But this conflicts with the analogy of the other
trumpet voices. There seems to be in the expression an intermingling of
the fulfillment with the prophecy, the standpoint of the vision not being
strictly preserved.
As Weidner says, “The moment that the Seventh Trumpet shall
sound the mystery shall be made clear, for the fulfillment comes in the
days when it sounds.”
“the mystery of God ",—The meaning of this phrase is determined
by the fact of its fulfillment being placed in the time of the Seventh Trum¬
pet, and by the fact that it is a communication of a message of joy. Hence
all of the following are correct: The mystery of God’s scheme of redemp¬
tion (F.) ; The eschatological mystery of the world’s history (L.) ; The
glorious completion of the divine kingdom (Dus.) ; The mystery of the
kingdom as unfolded in the course of God's dispensation (A.). Weidner
tersely and with correctness says, “This finishing of the mystery of God
is the glorious consummation of God’s kingdom when the kingdoms of
this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
when He shall reign forever and ever.” The verse is anticipatory of Chap.
11.15-18.
Ver. 9. “And I went unto the angel" ,—i. e., in idea, in vision, says
Lange, who also conceives of John as now in the earth. Some think of
him as leaving heaven and changing his standpoint of observation and so
coming near to where the angel stood. (A. F. Dus.)
Verses 8 to 11, Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School conceives
to be the special commissioning by Christ (the angel holding the little
book) of the ministers of the Reformation to preach His Gospel in various
countries and languages, the Apostle John standing in the vision as the
607
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
representative of these ministers, and the word “ prophesy” being taken in
the sense of preaching, proclaiming the Gospel.
Alford of the Contemporaneous Historical School, as well as all the
Futurists, think of the “little book” not as the Bible or the New Testa¬
ment, but as another scroll of prophecy relating to the fulfillment of the
mystery of God.
“eat it up ”,—i. e., as Bede says, ‘‘Take into your inward parts as
contained within the space of the heart.” (Jer. 15.16.)
“bitter and sweet” ,—Different sensations of the one book in different
parts of John’s body, says Alford. The reference is not therefore to differ¬
ent portions of the book, its sad and its joyous contents (Ew. Hei.) ; nor
is it that the first bitterness leads afterwards to sweetness and joy (Her.
Rink) ; nor that the bitterness indicates the persecution with which the
preaching of John and the Church met; and the sweetness, his declaration
of it to others (Be. Ar.). The right idea seems to be that the roll was
sweet to the taste because he knew it to be the will of God, and the thought
that God was to be glorified gave to him the sweetest pleasure, but as its
contents were digested he was embittered with grief at the message of
judgment to be announced. (F. V. D. A. Hen. Dus. Lap. Stern.)
Ver. 11. " They say”, —An indefinite expression for “it was said”,
the speaker or speakers being left unknown.
“Thou must prophesy again ”,—This necessity is laid upon him by
the will of God and not because of an inner subjective necessity caused by
eating the book.
“many peoples”, —The inhabitants of the earth as before. (Chap.
6.9.)
“again”, —Not after returning from exile (Be. Orim.) ; nor in con¬
tradistinction to the old prophets (B.) ; nor as referring to the composition
of John's Gospel; nor as one of the two witnesses (Crav.) ; but perhaps,
“as thou hast done before in writing the former part of the Apocalypse.”
(A. L. D. F. Eb. Al. Hen. Gro. Dus.) He is to prophecy what he finds
in the little book, which book relates to the fulfillment of the mystery of
God, and which prophecy is given in that part of the Apocalypse which
begins at Chap. 1 1. (A. B. D. L. F. Be. Al. Ew. Eb. Lap. Hen.)
There can be but little, if any, doubt but that the little book contains
the mystery of God spoken of above. Practically all are agreed here but
they do not by any means agree either as to the relation of the little book
to the book of Chap. 5, or as to how much from Chap. 11 on is included
in the little book.
Weidner thinks the prophesying again of John begins with Chap.
1 2 and goes on to the end of the Apocalypse.
Alford seems rightly to say, “The contents of the little book cannot
well be confined to Chap. 11.1-13, or we should not have had so solemn
an inauguration of it, nor so wide-reaching an announcement of the duty
of the Apostle consequent upon receipt of it.”
There are four views as to the relation of this little book to the book
of Chap. 5.
1. The two books are identical . (Ze. Ca. Lap.) But John thus far
has been prophesying on the ground of the book of Chap. 5 and
608
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
now he is to begin anew, again, with the contents of the little
book. This would seem to prove the books to be different.
2. The two books have no relation at all. (A.)
(a) The little book contains only Chap. 11.1-3 and this
refers to the fate of Jerusalem. (Ew. Ei. Gro. Wet.)
(b) The little book contains only Chap. 1 1.1-13 and this refers
to judgments on the degenerate Church. (Hen.) The fact
that he is to prophesy concerning peoples and kings militates
against (a) and (b).
(c) The little book contains Chap. I 1.1-13, including a refer¬
ence to Antichrist, announcing the conversion of Israel. (G.)
(d) The little book contains the testimony of the two wit¬
nesses. (De Burgh.)
(e) The little book contains all from Chap. 11 to the end of the
Apocalypse.
3. The little book is the latter part of the book of Chap. II and
contains:
(a) Chap. 11.1-13, which refers to the calamities of the West¬
ern Church. The objection to (a) and (b) above holds
also here.
(b) Chap. II on to the end of the Apocalypse. (Dus.)
4. The little book is a repetition of the other book . (Vol.)
Either (e) under 2 or (b) under 3 is the proper view. They agree
as to the contents of the little book but not in its relation to the book of
Chap. 5. Alford argues that the book of Chap. 5 was not to be opened
at all until the end; while Dusterdieck argues that it is inconceivable that
the book of fate in Chap. 5 should contain nothing as to the fate of
Jerusalem (Chap. 11), the degenerate Church. We incline to the view
of Alford, (e) under 2.
We are inclined to think the vision refers to that which is still future
and that after the judgments announced by the first six trumpets have
come to pass, the beginning of the final consummation, when Antichrist
will be destroyed, will be ushered in, and the judgments which shall come
upon the world in connection with this destruction and which are to mark
the times of the Great Tribulation are accordingly to be conceived of as
the contents of the little book.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1 And there was given me a reed like
unto a rod: ] and one said. Rise, and
measure the 1 2 3 temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein.
2 And the court which is without the
1 Gr. saying
3 Or, sanctuary
'temple 'leave without, and measure it
not; for it hath been given unto the
4 nations: and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty and two months.
3 Gr. cast without
4 Or, Gentiles
Vers. 1,2. The Saints Set Apart for Deliverance.
Many regard this chapter as a compendium summary of and introduc¬
tion to the more detailed prophecies of the same events to come in Chaps.
13 to 20. (A. F. Weid.)
609
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Alford remarks, “We cannot understand this prophecy at all except
in the light of those that follow, for it introduces by anticipation their
dramatis personae,"
Ver. 1. "And there was given me a reed", —Probably by the angel
of Chap. 10 (B.), or perhaps by Christ, who seems to be the speaker in
verse 3, but by whom is left undetermined by the text.
"and one said", —literally, “saying”. The giver of the reed is of
course meant.
"the temple of God", —The word is “naos” and it refers to that
part of the temple which contains the sanctuary, namely the Holy Place
and the Most Holy Place, i. e. f the temple proper in distinction from the
entire space of the outer courts. (Dus. Weid.)
"and the altar", —Not the altar of Burnt Offering which stood out
side in front of the Holy Place (V. El. Bar. Gro. Hen.), but the altar
of Incense which stood in the Holy Place not far from the entrance into
the Most Holy Place. (F. A. L. Ei. Eb. Hei. Dus. Stern.)
"and them that worship therein", —i. e., in the “naos”, the temple.
Dusterdieck rightly says, “That John beholds believers in the Most
Holy Place, otherwise open to priests only, is due to his knowledge of the
priestly character of believers.”
Others, however, refer the preposition "in" to its nearest noun,
"altar," and render this word “altar court”, and thus make "them that
worship therein" emblematic of the Church on earth, while the Most Holy
and its blessed company represent that part of the Church already gathered
into Paradise, and by the "court without" is symbolized the apostate
Roman Catholic Church.
"Rise and measure", —What is meant by this measuring?
The things are measured as a sign that they are not to be devoted
to destruction, while the outer court, not being measured, is indicative of
destruction. The action which John is commanded to perform is of course
a symbolic one, the “naos” being symbolical of worshipping believers and
the outer court symbolical of the unbelieving and the apostate.
Ver. 2. "the court which is without", —Not the court of the Gen¬
tiles only (V. El. Zu. Ew.), but all outside the temple (naos) as con¬
ceived in verse 1, i. e., both the court of the Gentiles and the court of Burnt
Offering. (F. A. L. D. Eb. Dus. Hen.)
"leave without", —i. e., out of your measurements. The literal is
“cast out”, i. e., reckoned as unhallowed. (F. A. L. B. D. Ei. Eb. Ew.
Hen.)
"it hath been given", —i. e., by divine appointment. (A. F. Dus.)
"unto the nations", —i. e., unto the Gentiles. Not that the Gentiles
shall one day worship there (B.), nor that the altar of Burnt Offering
standing in the outer court is thereby to be maintained (D.), but as the
next clause indicates, that together with the Holy City it shall be trodden
under foot.
"forty and two months", —This and the 1 260 days and the three and
one-half years seem equal enough and doubtless are periods of the same
length, although Alford rightly remarks that we have no right to suppose
610
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
them in any two given cases to be identical unless so required by the con¬
text. While of equal length, no doubt they may refer to different periods
of time. There are three main views as to the period of time here referred to:
1. That it is to be taken symbolically of “the times of the Gentiles",
whether their beginning be dated from the Babylonish captivity
or from the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and continuing
down to the Second Coming of Christ.
2. That each day represents a year and we have therefore 1 260 years.
This is the view of nearly all the supporters of the Consecutive
Historical School, each one, however, of whom has a different
beginning time for the 1 260 years, it being impossible for any
two of them to agree, Joachin beginning with A. D. 1 ; Mede
with A. D. 455; Cuninghame with A. D. 533; Bengel with
A. D. 576; Fleming with A. D. 606; Elliott with A. D. 608;
Melancthon with A. D. 660; Guinness with A. D. 672; Fysh
with A. D. 727, etc.
3. That the period is to be interpreted literally and that it refers to
the last half of the Seventieth Week, the days of the Antichrist.
It will be seen therefore that the answer to the question as to who are
the believers and unbelievers, as typified by the temple and the outer court,
must depend upon the school of interpretation one is inclined to follow in
seeking an explanation of the entire passage.
The Consecutive Historical School, especially Elliott, refers the pas¬
sage to the Reformation and the causes which led to it. The reed he makes
a type of the authority given to Luther and the Reformers by Elector John.
The measuring, he says, was the ecclesiastically constituting of what was
called the Evangelic Church, the introduction of new forms of worship
after the principles laid down by Luther, and the non-measuring was the
removal from the Church and church worship of Roman images and super¬
stitions and the exclusion, as heathen-like and apostate, of the Church of
Rome herself.
The Contemporaneous Historical School, especially Alford, says the
whole expression, “the temple, the altar and them that worship therein"
is to be taken symbolically, and refers to “the Church of the elect servants
of God (I Cor. 3.16,17), partakers of the first resurrection, the Church of
the first born". “These," he says, “are they who, properly speaking,
alone are measured, i. e., estimated again and again in this book by tale and
by number." This measuring, he says, consists in the distinction which
John so accurately draws in the subsequent chapters between God's ser¬
vants and those who bear the mark of the Beast. Noticing that nothing
further is said of the measuring, Alford remarks, “Either then it never took
place (which is inconceivable), or it did take place and no result is com¬
municated to us (which is hardly probable.), or the result of it is found
in the subsequent prophecies in the minute and careful distinctions between
the servants of God and those who receive the mark of the Beast." The
nations to whom the outer court is given, are, he says, “those outside of
the elect Church of the first-born over whom the Millennial reign of Chap.
20 shall be exercised, the dwellers on the earth, the material upon which
judgment and mercy are severally exercised in the rest of the book." As
to the periods of time mentioned Alford says, “No solution at all
611
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
approaching to a satisfactory one has ever yet been given of any one of
these periods. This being so, my principle is to regard them as still among
the things unknown to the Church and awaiting their elucidation by the
event. It is our duty to feel our way by all the indications which Scrip¬
tures furnish, and by the light which history, in its main and obvious
salient events, has thrown on Scripture; and when those fail us, to be
content to confess our ignorance. An Apocalyptic commentary which
explains everything is self-convicted of error.”
The Futurists take the time periods literally and refer the worshipping
believers to the faithful remnant of the Jews, as symbolized by the temple,
and the unbelievers to the apostate Jews and the Gentiles, the time in ques¬
tion being at the end during the days of the Seals, Trumpets and Vials, or
more specifically during the last three and one-half years of the Seventieth
Week of Daniel.
Todd, who is a Futurist, advocates the teaching that Jerusalem will
be inhabited again, the temple rebuilt, then the city sacked by the Gentiles,
the outer court of the temple seized and profaned while the sanctuary
itself and a remnant of them that worship therein graciously preserved,
says, "There is nothing impossible, nothing inconsistent with faith or
reason, nothing which can furnish the smallest justification to us for de¬
parting from the natural meaning of the words.”
Fausset, to whom the measuring stands parallel to the sealing of the
elect of Israel, and who takes the measuring literally, says, "The fact that
the temple is distinguished from them that worship therein favors the view
that the spiritual temple (believers) is not exclusively meant, but that the
literal temple must also be meant. It shall be rebuilt on the return of
the Jews to their land. The measuring then at once implies the exactness
of the proportions of the temple to be restored and the definite completeness
of the numbers of the Israelitish and Gentile elections.” He further says,
"Literal Israel in Jerusalem and with the temple restored shall stand at
the head of the elect Church. The sealed elect of Israel, the head of the
elect Church, alone shall refuse Antichrist’s claims. These constitute the
true sanctuary which is here measured, i. e., accurately marked and kept by
God.”
Thus also Godet, who takes those who worship in the sanctuary to
be the body of faithful Jews who refuse to worship Antichrist at the time
of his reigning in Jerusalem.
We can ourselves see no good reason for departing from the literal
interpretation of these periods of time.
3 And I will give unto my two wit¬
nesses. and they shall prophesy a thou¬
sand two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the
two olive trees and the two 'candle¬
sticks, standing before the Lord of the
earth. 5 And if any man desireth to
hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
mouth and devoureth their enemies: and
if any man shall desire to hurt them, in
this manner must he be killed. 6 These
have the power to shut the heaven, that
it rain not during the days of their
J Gr. latnpsiands
prophecy: and they have power over
the waters to turn them into blood, and
to smite the earth with every plague, as
often as they shall desire. 7 And when
they shall have finished their testimony,
the beast that cometh up out of the
abyss shall make war with them, and
overcome them, and kill them. 8 And
their Mead bodies lie in the street of the
great city, which spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt, where also their
Lord was crucified. 9 And from among
the peoples and tribes and tongues and
3 Gr. carcase
612
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
nations do men look upon their Mead
bodies three days and a half, and suffer
not their dead bodies to be laid in a
tomb. 10 And they that dwell on the
earth rejoice over them, and make
merry; and they shall send gifts one to
another; because these two prophets tor¬
mented them that dwell on the earth.
1 1 And after the three days and a half
the breath of life from God entered into
them, and they stood upon their feet;
and great fear fell upon them that be¬
held them. 12 And they heard a great
voice from heaven saying unto them.
Come up hither. And they went up
into heaven in the cloud; and their
enemies beheld them.
Vers. 3-12. The Two Witnesses.
Ver. 3. "And I will give ’,—What is given is declared by what
follows, i. e., power and authority to prophesy. There is, therefore, no
use to conjecture such objects as “consistency and wisdom” (Ly. Lap.),
“the Holy Spirit” (Bez.), “direction and power” (D.).
“my two witnesses ’,—literally “the two witnesses of me.” “The”
implies well-known witnesses, at least to John; “me” has its reference
in Christ, although Christ is not necessarily to be regarded as speaking
(B. Eb. Hen.), but it is the same heavenly voice which has been speaking
in the name of Christ (A. Dus.). That it cannot be Christ Himself who
here speaks is made plain by verse 8, where it is said, “where also their Lord
was crucified.” The “witnesses’ may be taken literally, i. e., two indi¬
vidual men, or symbolically as representing bodies of men who embody
the principles and characteristics of the true witnesses here mentioned. The
fact that they were said to be clothed in sackcloth strongly favors the
literal interpretation, as Alford admits, and this fact also shows that they
preached repentance and approaching judgment. If taken as individuals
the reference to Moses and Elijah seems the best one (F. B. Be. Dus.),
because of the character of miracles described and because they appeared
with Christ at the transfiguration which fore-shadowed his coming Mil¬
lennium kingdom. Enoch was substituted for Moses to avoid making
Moses die twice, since both witnesses are killed.
The early Church almost universally believed in the literal fulfillment
of this prophecy just as the words are written. They all accepted Elijah as
one of the witnesses, and most thought the other to be Enoch, since it is
said that these two alone of mankind had not tasted death. (Pet.)
But the deeds of these two witnesses seem to link them more closely
with Moses and Elijah than with Enoch and Elijah, and it has been said
that the passing away of Moses was also miraculous, as was that of the
other two. Most modern commentators take the characters as Moses and
Elijah or at least of two prophets with miraculous powers similar to Moses
and Elijah, which interpretation is probably the right one.
The Allegorical interpretation says they are the Old and New Testa¬
ments, the fire coming out of their mouths is being fulfilled in the insults
now being offered to the Two Testaments. (Tichonius, Frere, Irving.)
The Consecutive Historical School makes them a long line of wit¬
nesses for Christ during the 1260 years of the Papal Antichrist preceding
the Reformation, beginning about A. D. 533, their death signifies the
entire cessation of such witnessing during the few years just before the
Reformation, and the three and one-half years indicates exactly the time
between the ninth session of the Lateran Council, May 5, 1514, and the
posting of the ninety-five Theses on the Wittenberg cathedral door, Oct.
613
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
31, 1517, their resurrection, the revival of the Gospel preaching by
Luther and his associates, and their ascension the peace of Augsburg,
1555. Wiedner, a Futurist, remarks, “Is it a wonder that the book of
Revelation has fallen largely into disrepute and been regarded as an
enigma, when such interpretations are seriously set forth and considered
as bringing out the meaning of God's word?"
Moorehead, however, just as ardent a Futurist, says, “We have no
good reason to reject this application of the prophecy as at least a partial
and proleptic fulfillment. But it does not meet all the facts. The wit¬
nesses beyond all question prosecute their ministry in Jerusalem (verse 8),
and they appear just before the Seventh Trumpet sounds when the con¬
summation is reached."
"a thousand two hundred and threescore days ’,—1260 days. This
means no doubt they will prophesy daily during this period, which is here
not to be identified with the forty-two months. The time of their prophe¬
sying is, according to the Futurist School, doubtless during the first half of
the times of the Antichrist, while the forty-two months no doubt refer
to the last half of this period.
Ver. 4. "Two olive trees ",—Lange says John has seen in the olive
trees of Zech. 4 perfectly admissible types of New Testament affairs. John
has amplified the symbolism of Zechariah in the case of candlesticks, mak¬
ing two here instead of one there, “carrying it on," perhaps, as Alford
says, “by the well known figure of light (two candlesticks), as representing
God’s testifying servants."
They are called “o live trees " because the energy and power of the
Holy Spirit rests upon them. (Gab.)
Ver. 5. Elliott takes the statements of this and the following verse
as figurative, the fire proceeding out of their mouths referring to the fiery
judgments of God destroying the apostates nationally who might have
persecuted them. Alford, on the other hand says, “Individuality could
not be more strongly indicated. The literal sense seems to be stamped here
by the double announcement. And the ‘if any man and ‘he must be
killed ' can hardly take a national sense, as Elliott supposes."
2 Kings 1.10 is referred to by way of example. (D. L. F. Ew.) If
the passage be taken literally it presents a most fearful reality. God causing
fire to come down and consume their enemies can answer the demands of
the passage. Allegorists are much puzzled here.
Ver. 6. The miracles performed by Moses and Elijah, thus pointing
to them as the two witnesses. Apart from this there is no hint whatsoever
that these two witnesses are sent to earth from the unseen world. Indeed
the passage does not require such an interpretation; if two men shall appear
in the last days bearing witness in the spirit and power of Elijah and Moses
the terms of the prophecy will have been fully met.
Some take these plagues spiritually, i. e., closing the heavens spirit¬
ually and holding back the rain of the Gospel (V. L. Ly. El. Eb. Ca.
Hen.), and causing bloodshed to come from the preaching of the Gospel
(V.), “the bloodshed of wars inflicted in God’s providence on the
enemies of the witnesses" (El.) ; but there is no reason, as Dusterdieck
614
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
says, why they should not be taken literally, just the same as in I Kings
17.1 and Ex. 7 sqq.
Ver. 7. “when they shall have finished", —The verb as used shows
that the whole period of their testimony shall have come to an end when
that which is next said shall happen. Allegorists try to escape this, but
in vain; as for instance, "when they shall be about finishing" (Me.), and
Elliott, who says it does not necessarily mean when they shall have com¬
pleted their whole testimony, but any one complete deliverance, and this
he places in the opening of the sixteenth century just before the Reforma¬
tion. The same verb is used of Paul's ending his life by violent death.
“the beast", —The first mention of this beast, and it is evidently the
same as the one mentioned in Chaps. 13.1 and 17.8, and is doubtless that
“little horn" spoken of by Daniel "which made war with the saints and
prevailed against them" (Dan. 7.8-21). His infernal nature can be seen
in that he comes up out of the abyss. When he makes war with the saints,
it is then that the company of martyrs mentioned in Chap. 6.11 will be
gathered. Weidner says, "This beast is evidently the Antichrist who now
manifests himself in all of his diabolical power as the Man of Sin."
Ver. 8. “dead bodies' ,—The Greek (which is singular) does not
properly signify a dead body, but that which is fallen, be it of one or of
many.
“the great city ",—The arguments of Alford against taking this as
Jerusalem are not conclusive. He makes it Babylon because it was the
usual term for Babylon, and is used of Babylon eight times elsewhere in
Revelation. But the connection, its spiritual designation, and the last
clause of verse 8 decide the case in favor of Jerusalem. (L. F. D. Ew. Bl.
Dus. Sei.) Sodom (Isa. 1.10) and Egypt are not to be thought of in
their individual relations (first—immoral practices; second—religious cor¬
ruption [Hen.]), but together as representing entire enmity to God and
his servants. (D. Bl. Ew. Dus.) Alford, followed by Ebrard, Heng-
stenberg and Elliott, spiritualizes “crucified", i. e., even as we crucify him
today. But the past tense of the verb is against this view.
It is only possible to surmise why John here calls Jerusalem great.
Perhaps because "Sodom and Egypt" and "holy" would not be proper
in the same breath, while “great" emphasizes its greatness and power as
the vain foundation of its godless security and enmity against the Lord
and his witnesses calling it to repentance.
In the times of the Antichrist Jerusalem may well be called "Sodom
and Egypt" because of her corruptions, and Fausset says, "she can be called
great by reason of her becoming the world's capital of idolatrous apostacy,
such as Babylon originally was, and as Rome has been". De Wette remarks
that John couldn’t call her "holy" any more after her desecration.
Elliott must, in keeping with his scheme of interpretation, explain this
“great city" as the one wherein all martyrdom of the saints had originated
or taken place, i. e., Rome, and he must accordingly interpret the word
"crucified" in a spiritual sense as meaning crucified afresh, even as Alford
does who thinks of the “great city" as Babylon.
Ver. 9. “suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb" ,—Gaebe-
lein says, and rightly, "The wicked are so elated over the silencing of the
testimony that they refuse to permit their burial so that they may feast their
615
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
eyes upon the sickening spectacle. Many from among the Gentiles and the
Jews seem to have assembled in Jerusalem.'' Elliott having taken the wit¬
nesses and the slaying symbolically must of course take this expression also
in the same way, although he remarks that here as elsewhere the figure may
have been drawn from life inasmuch as the Lateran Council denied burial
to the heretics, the faithful anti-papal witnessing body of Christ. Because
of the "among” Fausset says the reference is to all save the elect.
Lange, with insufficient reason, says this verse refers to those who
look upon them friendly; not allowing them to be buried, hoping they
would revive (they looked on in sorrow), while verse 10 refers to the
ungodly.
"three days and a half”, —Not with reference to Christ lying in the
grave (Lap. Hen.), nor merely designating a short time (Ze.), nor be
cause it meant longer than was proper (Ew.), but only from the analogy
of the three and one-half years, verse 2. (A. F. D. Dus.)
For the interpretation by the Consecutive Historical School of this
expression see under verse 3.
Ver. 10. "they that divell upon the earth”, —Because of this ex¬
pression some say that Jerusalem is not meant as the city, but Papal Rome,
or rather Romish Papacy, which extends over all the earth. (V. Ca.) But
this effort to represent all dwellers on the earth miscarries. The ungodly
in Jerusalem are to be taken as representing the entire mass of such dwellers
on the earth. It is the generic idea (Dus.) and not the numerical mass
here thought of.
"send gifts one to another”, —i. e. as on a day of festival.
"tormented them”, —i. e. f by the plagues above mentioned.
Ver. 11. "breath of life ”,—Not the Spirit of life (A. L. F. Hen.).
but as in the text (Dus.).
"from God”, —i. e., miraculously, immediately. It is not, however,
unallowable to take “spirit of life" as one conception and “of God" as
modifying it in the sense of Alford and others, as above. John doubtless
had before him the imagery of Ezekiel 37.
Ver. 12. “they heard”, —i. e., the two witnesses.
"And they went up into heaven ”,—Alford says that little if any
attempt has been made to explain this ascension by those who interpret the
witnesses figuratively. He says that the modern Historical School which
can interpret such a phrase, as Elliott does, as “calling up to political
ascendancy and power" surely needs no refutation. From those highest
for the time being in the heaven of political authority there was issued a
Decree, says Elliott, a Decree issued by the Roman Emperor, celebrated as
the Pacification of Nuremberg, by which full toleration was accorded to
Protestantism so recently the object of such persecution on the part of the
Beast, the Popes of Rome and the secular Roman power under them.
"in the cloud”, —Because of the definite article "the” Fausset thinks
the same cloud is meant which took Christ up. But this can hardly be
vigorously maintained.
616
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
1 3 And in that hour there was a great
earthquake, and the tenth part of the
city fell; and there were killed in the
earthquake 'seven thousand persons: and
'Gr. names of men, seven thousand. Comp.
Chap. 3.4.
Vers. 13,14. THE SECOND WOE.
Ver. 13. “earthquake”, —Literal earthquake (Dus.) as in Chap.
6.12 (see Matt. 27.5 and 28.2), and not some dreadful event to be dis¬
cerned only from the fulfillment of the prophecy. (Eb.) The numerical
specifications favor the literal view.
“the tenth part of the city” ,—Ebrard refers to the tenth part of the
fourth world-power, over which the Antichrist is to extend his dominion.
“seven thousand persons'',-—Literally, “the names of men seven
thousand," showing that the number is carefully and precisely stated, as if
the name of each one were recounted.
Fausset says, "According to the literal view, one-tenth of Jerusalem
fell under the Antichrist and, according to the Consecutive Historical view,
one of the ten Roman apostate world-kingdoms fell."
“the rest”, —Not the remnant of the Israelites who were not slain
(F. Weid.), but the rest of the inhabitants of the city. (A. Dus.)
“gave”, —an attempt has been made to supply "the two witnesses"
as the subject here, but this will not do. The subject is “the rest.”
“gave glory to God ”,—
1. Were converted. (F. A. Dus. Weid.) (See Chap. 16.9 and Jer.
13.16.)
2. A giving of glory only inspired by fear. They do not turn in
true repentance to God. (Gab.)
Ver. 14. Weidner remarks, "We are still under the Seventh Seal, for
the entire series of trumpet visions is developed out of the Seventh Seal;
the first Six Seals bringing in preliminary judgments, while the coming
Seventh Trumpet, under the Seventh Seal, introduces the final and partly
anticipated judgment under the Sixth Seal."
the rest were affrighted, and gave glory
to the God of heaven.
14 The second Woe is past: behold,
the third Woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded;
and there followed great voices in
heaven, and they said,
The kingdom of the world is be¬
come the kingdom of our Lord,
and of his Christ: and he shall
reign ’for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders,
who sit before God on their thrones, fell
upon their faces and worshipped God,
1 7 saying,
We give thee thanks, O Lord God,
the Almighty, who art and who
wast; because thou hast taken thy
great power, and didst reign. 18
'Or. unto the ages of the ages
And the nations were wroth, and
thy wrath came, and the time of
the dead to be judged, and the time
to give their reward to thy Serv¬
ants the prophets, and to the
saints, and to them that fear thy
name, the small and the great: and
to destroy them that destroy the
earth.
19 And there was opened the Sem¬
ple of God that is in heaven; and there
was seen in his Semple the ark of his
covenant; and there followed lightnings,
and voices, and thunders, and an earth¬
quake, and great hail.
2 Gr. bondservants
3 Or, sanctuary
Vers. 15-19. The SEVENTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT.
Ver. 15. Before introducing the third woe in detail there is given
617
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the thanksgiving song of the elders for the establishment of the kingdom
and the hour of vengeance, etc.
“And the seventh angel sounded” ,—Alford calls attention to the fact
that the seventh member in each series of visions, seals, trumpets and vials,
are all differently accompanied from any of the preceding series in each case,
(a) At each seventh member we hear what is done not on earth, but in
heaven; (b) each seventh member is followed by the statement that there
followed voices, thunders, lightnings and earthquake; (c) at each seventh
member it is plainly indicated that the end is come or is close at hand.
All this, he says, forms grounds for inference that the three series of visions
are not continuous but resumptive; not, indeed, going over the same ground
with one another, either of time or occurrence, but each evolving something
that was not in the former and putting the course of God’s Providence
in a different light. They are not, therefore, to be thought of as in mere
temporal succession.
The Seventh Trumpet is to be limited to verses 15 to 18, although
some include verse 19. But verse 19 is to be taken as traditional, belong¬
ing to and forming a transition to what follows. (A. Eb. Gab. Weid.)
“great voices”, —i. e. f of the four beasts (Ew.), of the angels (D.),
of the innumerable hosts of Chap. 7.9 (Hen.), of the armies of heaven
(Weid.). The view of Weidner is perhaps the best, although it may be
well to think of them as the armies of heaven and the four living beings
as distinguished from the elders' voices in the next verse. The question,
says Dusterdieck, is neither to be asked or answered. That these voices
have a proleptical import is seen in the fact that they describe as some¬
thing already done what really does not occur until Chap. 18. (Ew. Dus.
Lap.)
“in heaven”,- —i. e., whither the look of John is directed, John at
this time not being in heaven. (D. Dus.)
“the kingdom of the world”, —i. e., the regal dominion over the
world. (A. B. D. Hen. Dus.) (See Psalm 2.2.)
“shall reign”, — (See Dan. 7.14.) Fausset says it is the setting up
of heaven’s sovereignty over the earth visibly and that here begins the
Millennial reign, the consummation of the mystery of God.
“This Seventh Trumpet”, says Seiss, “is the last trumpet, at the sound
of which the dead are raised and the prophets and saints receive their
rewards, and it is only then that the voice declares, ' The kingdom of this
world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ \ It is there¬
fore directly against the record here given to think of this reign of universal
peace and righteousness, the Millennium, as taking place before the resur¬
rection of the saints and before the second coming of the Lord.”
Weidner, with a reference to I Cor. 15.24-28, says this points to
the final end and judgment and is no temporal rule on earth, but eternal
in the heavens.
Ver. 17. “We give thee thanks”, —Not because they consider them¬
selves partakers of the great power and government of God (Hen.), but
because the answer to the prayers of the saints for vengeance on their
oppressors has been furnished by the judgment of the trumpets. (A. F. L.)
618
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"Who art and who wast", —"Who is to come" is naturally omitted,
the consummation having already come, i. e., proleptically.
Ver. 18. " And the nations were wroth", —Antichrist and his
armies shall rise up against Christ. (Psa. 2.1-3.)
"the time of the dead to be judged", —Stated proleptically and does
not actually occur until Chap. 20.11. (Dus. Gab.)
"servants", —This is to be referred only to the "prophets", which
latter word is in apposition with the former.
"them that fear thy name", —The entire mass of the godly.
"them that destroy the earth", —The antichristian secular power.
Ver. 19. God's response to the songs of adoration.
"the ark of his covenant", —i. e. f in the holy of holies; the symbol
of God’s faithfulness in bestowing grace on His people and inflicting ven¬
geance on His enemies. It is indicative of what nature the succeeding
visions are to be, i. e., they relate especially to His own covenant people.
"lightnings and voices", etc., —"The solemn salvos of the artillery
of heaven with which each series of visions is concluded." (A.) "The
threatening foretokens of that with which the actual execution of the
judgment comes upon the antichristian world." (Dus. Kli.)
CHAPTER TWELVE
1 And a great sign was seen in
heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun,
and the moon under her feet and upon
her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 and
she was with child; and she crieth out.
travailing in birth, and in pain to be
delivered. 3 And there was seen another
sign in heaven: and behold, a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and upon his heads seven dia¬
dems. 4 And his tail draweth the third
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast
them to the earth: and the dragon
standeth before the woman that is about
to be delivered, that when she is de¬
livered he may devour her child. 5 And
she was delivered of a son, a man child,
who is to rule all the ’nations with a
rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and unto his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilder¬
ness, where she hath a place prepared
of God, that there they may nourish her
a thousand two hundred and threescore
days.
7 And there was war in heaven:
Michael and his angels going forth to
war with the dragon; and the dragon
warred and his angels: 8 and they
prevailed not. neither was their place
‘Or, Gentiles
found any more in heaven. 9 And the
great dragon was cast down, the old
serpent, he that is called the Devil and
Satan, the deceiver of the whole ^world;
he was cast down to the earth, and his
angels were cast down with him. 10
And I heard a great voice in heaven,
saying,
’Now is come the salvation, and
the power, and the kingdom of
our God, and the authority of his
Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, who ac-
cuseth them before our God day
and night. 11 And they over¬
came him because of the blood of
the Lamb, and because of the word
of their testimony; and they loved
not their life even unto death. 1 2
Therefore ^rejoice, O heavens, and
ye that dwell in them. Woe for
the earth and for the sea: because
the devil is gone down unto you.
having great wrath, knowing that
he hath but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that
he was cast down to the earth, he per¬
secuted the woman that brought forth
the man child . 14 And there were
given to the woman the two wings of
a Gr. inhabited earth
3 Or, now is the salvation, and the power
and the kingdom, become our God's and the
authority is become his Christ's
*Gr, tabernacle
619
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the great eagle, that she might fly into
the wilderness unto her place, where she
is nourished for a time, and times, and
half a time, from the face of the ser¬
pent. 15 And the serpent cast out of
his mouth after the woman water as a
river, that he might cause her to be
carried away by the stream. 16 And
the earth helped the woman, and the
earth opened her mouth and swallowed
up the river which the dragon cast out
of his mouth. 17 And the dragon
waxed wroth with the woman, and
went away to make war with the rest
of her seed, that keep the command¬
ments of God, and hold the testimony
of Jesus.
Vers. 1-17. The Sun-Clothed Woman and the Man-Child.
Says Moorehead, “After the Seventh Trumpet has sounded and the
consummation is at length come, the Seer goes back and starts once more
with a fresh vision’’.
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School says that this vision and
the two subsequent ones are supplemental and explanatory of what has
gone before and that they have therefore a retrogressive character.
Alford of the Contemporaneous Historical School remarks also that,
“the principal details of this section are descriptive rather than prophetical,
relating to things past and passing.”
Ver. 1. "a great sign',- —i. e., important in its meaning as well as
vast in its appearance. (F. A. Dus.)
‘‘sign ”,—i. e., a symbol (A. Eb. Hen. Dus.) ; one of those appear¬
ances by which something is signified to the Seer (Chap. 1.1). (A. Dus.)
Dusterdieck well remarks that the context and the very word itself
shows it must be taken symbolically since the woman must be taken to
represent something.
The rest of this verse can be the better understood when a decision
has been reached as to whom the woman represents.
1. Sadler, Bernard, and especially the Romanists say she represents
the Virgin Mary. (Are. Lap.) But the ideal description of the
woman and the events pertaining to her, as well as her relation
to the rest of her seed, precludes this.
2. The New Testament or Christian Church. (V. B. El. Be. Ly. Ar.
Ca. Ham. Wor. Bar. Ira. Lord.) Stuart thinks the reference is
to this Church particularly at the time of Christ’s birth, while
others (Chri. Stern) refer it to the time of the Antichrist. If the
man-child refers to Christ, as most authorities think, then this
view, according to Lange, Moorehead and others, miscarries in
verse 5, because most assuredly, say these authorities, the New
Testament Church did not give birth to Christ.
Elliott takes this view, referring the expression to Christ’s true
visible Church on earth inclusive only of those that are alive at
any particular time on earth. The “heaven” meant is that of the
political heaven, the sun and the moon representing the chief rulers
of the state, while in the same way the stars signify the lesser
rulers, the former to be referred to the ruling powers of the Roman
world decorating and supporting the Church at the particular
time of the vision, while the latter is to be referred to the eccle¬
siastical rulers or Bishops recognized at the time to which the
vision points as dignified authorities before the world. The
620
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
man-child he takes as representing the children of the Church
united into a body politic and raised to dominant power.
3. The Old Testament and the New Testament Church in undivided
unity. (D. H. L. Au. Vic. And. Chr. Hen. Geb. Sei. Beck.) But
there seems to be no hint of this in the prophecy and it also raises
the question as to who could be represented by her seed.
4. The Old Testament Church, the Old Testament congregation of
God (A. F. Au. Ew. Eb. Zu. Vol. Hei. Hof. Lud. Her. Gab. Pet.
Weid. Moor.), the woman's travail representing the Old Testa¬
ment believers’ ardent longing for the promised Redeemer. “Israel,
of whom according to the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God
blessed forever." (Rom. 9.5.)
Lange, Elliott and others seem to think this view is incompatible
with the wilderness experience, but a careful exegesis will show,
we are inclined to think, that this last interpretation is the only
tenable one. (See Isa. 7.14; Micah 4.10; 5.2-4.)
“clothed with the sun”, —There is endless conjecture as to what the
sun and the moon and the stars represent. Many make the sun stand for
Christ, who to Israel is the Sun of Righteousness (V. N. Ar. Me. Ca. Pet.
Gab. And. Dau. New. Lap. Gro. Stern), while by many of these same
authorities the moon is referred to the reflected light of the Old Testament
typical system.
Alford refers the stars to the twelve Patriarchs, while others (V. Be.
Ar. Lap. Stern) refer them to the twelve Apostles, and yet others (Dus.
Pet. Gab. Weid.) to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Perhaps it is well enough to see with Fausset and Weidner the
thought that the Old Testament Church, clothed with the sun, is the
bearer of divine, supernatural light in the world, and that by the moon
under her feet, she will, as Ludhardt says, “in spite of her trials, finally
triumph over night which for her has passed away"; or it may be better
still to see, as Dusterdieck does, in all these designations only poetic descrip¬
tions of brilliancy, glory, etc.
Ver. 3. “a great red dragon”, —Elliott says this is the fit represen¬
tative of any heathen persecutor but here it symbolizes Imperial Rome as
an antichristian persecuting power. By the great majority of commenta¬
tors, however, the dragon is taken to mean the Devil. (V. D. Ar. Ly. Eb.
Hen. Dus. Lap. Gab. Moor.)
Dr. Maitland says, “What meaning is there in language, if we can
make the dragon anything but the great enemy of man; while we read.
'The great Dragon was cast out, that old Serpent called the Devil and
Satan’?" (See verse 9.)
“great”, —i. e., great in size, from which is inferred his dreadful
power.
“red”, —i. e., fiery red, symbolical of destruction and corruption
(Eb.) ; perhaps also because he is a murderer from the beginning (Dus.)
(John 8.14), and is intent upon the murder of the child to be delivered
and of all believers. (Chap. 6.4.)
The assumption by the dragon of so many of the details of the Beast
of Chap. 13.1 indicate that he lies in wait for the child in the form of that
antichristian power which is afterwards represented by the Beast.
621
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"seven heads’, —Not seven deadly sins (Tirinus), nor a caricature
of the Seven Spirits of God, i. e., seven evil spirits (Au.), nor the non-
unitous power of Satan (Hof.), but perhaps the perfection of diabolical
subtlety and wisdom (D. Pet.).
The seven heads, says Dusterdieck, refer to the antichristian secular
power of the Roman empire, which is seen in Chap. 13 under another
form, the number of heads, horns and diadems being based upon the histor¬
ical relations of that empire, the seven crowned heads referring to the im¬
perial successions, and the ten horns representing ten rulers, the number all
to be taken in literal accuracy.
"ten horns”, —A symbol of his earthly power. (D. Weid.)
"seven diadems T-—Implying universality of earthly dominion as
held by the Prince of this world. (A. F. Gab. Weid.) Note that the
dragon has seven diadems on his heads , while the Beast of Chap. 13.1,
the Antichrist, has ten diadems on his horns. In Chap. 17.9-13 John
explains these heads and horns as so many kings.
Ver. 4. " And his tail draweth”, etc .,— (See also Dan. 8.10).
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School says the reference is to a
time when the antichristian persecuting power was in supremacy in only
one-third of the Roman political heaven, namely in the fourth century
(about A. D. 313), the dragon symbolizing Maximim, who ruled in the
Asiatic third of the Roman world and who severely persecuted the Church
even while in the other two-thirds it enjoyed toleration and protection,
the "drawing with his tail and casting down to earth of the stars" referring
to his degrading and even killing the bishops and rulers in ecclesiastical
affairs.
There are those (Ei. Ew. Dus.) who think the reference to the
dragon’s tail is a poetic trait and represents his eagerness for combat; while
others still ( A. Weid.) think it represents the magnitude and fury of the
dragon, while the reference to the " third part of the stars” many of these
authorities (Eb. Vic. Pet. Sad. Will. Weid.) are inclined to think refers
to the angels which the Devil drew down with him to perdition at the
time he was cast out of heaven. (Jude 6.)
"standeth before the woman”, —Simcox says that this evidently
"symbolizes the enmity of the serpent against the seed of woman, begin¬
ning with the intended treachery of Herod and the massacre of the inno¬
cents. but including also that malice which pursued Him through life, the
temptation and at last the cross."
Ver. 5. " delivered of a son”, —The words, "ru/e all nations with a
rod of iron”, cited verbatim from Ps. 2.9, leave no possibility of doubt as
to who is here intended. It is the Lord Jesus and none other, and the
reference is to the historical birth of Jesus. (A. L. F. D. Eb. Dus. Pet. Gab.
Sad. Hen. Lee. Sim. Weid. Boyd. Carp. Rinck, Currey, Moor.)
Some wrongfully regard the child as Christ formed mystically in be¬
lievers and so of all regenerated children of God (Be.) : others take the
being "born" as the professing of the Nicene Creed and so becoming a
child of God in the midst of the persecutions of the heathen secular powers
(B. Ap. Ar. Ca. Stern) ; while others (Ei. Hei. Her.) say the child is the
Christian Church proceeding from the Jewish Church, while still others
622
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
claim the reference is to the Roman Catholic Church. It is, however, im¬
possible to dispose of the reference by any of these interpretations.
“caught up unto God and unto his throne ",—Elliott of the Consecu¬
tive Historical School interprets this as the enthroning of Constantine over
the Roman Empire in the character of a Christian emperor, inclusive of
other orthodox Christian Roman emperors after him. It was, he says,
Constantine, the son of Christ's faithful Catholic united Church, elevated
to an avowedly Christian throne, that might well be called the throne of
God, like Solomon’s, and thus was Christianity caught up to the place of
supremacy in the Roman Empire. Thus, as Gibbon says, "Christianity
was seated on the throne of the Roman world." It was Constantine and
other emperors, such as Theodosius, who ruled the heathen “with a rod of
iron ", discountenancing them and finally putting an end to all toleration
of Paganism.
The idea, however, is that of deliverance from danger, and the refer¬
ence is doubtless to Christ's historical ascension (V. A. L. D. Eb. Hen.
Dus. Gab. Tor. Mor. Sco. Gra. Weid. Moor.) after a conflict, as Alford
says, with the prince of this world who came and tried Him and found
nothing in Him. "Words can hardly be plainer than these," says Alford.
"It surely is but needful," he continues, "to set against them, thus under¬
stood, the interpretation which would regard them as fulfilled by the
'mighty issue of the consummated birth of a son of the Church, a baptized
emperor, to political supremacy in the Roman empire,' ‘united with the
solemn public profession of the divinity of the Son of man’."
All Futurists, however, contend that it was not with the history of
the present-day Church that the vision was concerned. Christ, they say,
ascended and took His place at the right hand of God. Then the present
age began. It is not even mentioned or recorded in the vision at all. It
is the whole history of the Old Testament Church, the Old Testament
congregation of God, and of Israel, in God’s covenant relation to His
chosen people, down to the very end of time that John sees. In the
thought of John and of all the Apostles no such period as twenty centuries
was to intervene.
Weidner remarks, "The thought here that this man-child is to rule
all the nations with a rod of iron brings by anticipation this very period
of the final end before us," while Moorehead likewise remarks, "The chap¬
ter touches the first advent and then sketches the events that pertain to
the time of the second advent."
Petingill, Mackintosh and a few others have a curious idea here.
They think the "catching up" does not refer to the historical, bodily
ascension of Christ from the mount of Olives, but to His spiritual body,
believers who are to be caught up at the coming rapture, that the man-
child therefore is still in progress of birth, the Church not being fully
formed as yet, and that the dragon is still seeking to destroy the man-
child, the true Church of Christ in the world today.
Ver. 6. This verse anticipates what is more minutely described in
verses 13 to 15. (V. A. Dau. Ew. Dus. Hof. Hen. Weid.)
Ver. 7. “war in heaven —Elliott says the reference here is to
Christianity contending against heathenism in the time of Julian, the
Apostate, which ended in the final downfall of paganism on Julian's death
623
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
in A. D. 363, whose death-cry was, "O Galilean, thou hast conquered ”,
and the downfall of heathenism Elliott interprets as the Dragon and his
angels being cast out of heaven.
Alford and others think that the war here mentioned occurred at the
time of Christ's ascension into heaven. Their view of the matter is that
the Dragon not being able to overcome Christ while on earth, pursued the
Man-child at His ascension even to the throne of God, and this caused the
war; "carried the war," as Weidner says, "into heaven itself, returning
thither with his angels, with the vain hope of supplanting Christ on the
throne of heaven—God permitting it, in His eternal counsels, for the sake
of the glory of His Son."
Says Alford, "I would appeal in passing to the solemnity of the
words here used, and the particularity of the designation, and ask whether
it is possible to understand this of the mere casting down of paganism from
the throne of the Roman empire?"
Alford, referring to Luke 10.18 and John 12.21, thinks this casting
down of Satan from the office of accuser in heaven is evidently connected
with the work of redemption. He accordingly says, "The day of accep¬
tance in Christ has dawned and Satan’s voice is to be heard before God
no longer, and his angels, those rebel spirits, whom he led away, are cast
down with him into the earth, where now the conflict is raging during
the short time which shall elapse between the Ascension and the Second
Advent when he shall be bound."
The casting down of Satan from heaven took place directly after the
ascension of Christ, immediately upon the issue of the war.
The one rather formidable objection to this view is that in verse 1 2
it is said that the Devil knew he had but "a short time " before he was to
be bound, and inasmuch as this is said from the standpoint both of the
supernatural knowledge of the Devil and the elders in heaven it can hardly
bear the same relation to the idea of duration as the same expression could,
and indeed does, when used by the Apostles in their expressions of "short
time", "shortly come to pass", etc., and doubtless therefore means just
what we would mean by the same expression, namely, a very little while
indeed, and not 2000 years and more from the ascension of Christ. And
then, too, Ephesians 6.12 seems to imply that Satan is still in the heavenly
places, even while he is the prince of this world. These objections are not,
however, altogether unsurmountable. But because of the foregoing, and
because of other reasons, the Futurists take the position that this war in
heaven occurred after the Rapture of the saints, and that Satan will be then
present, accusing the brethren before God day and night, whereupon
(Zech. 3.2) Christ rebukes him and Michael leads the hosts of heaven
against him with the result already known.
These authorities remind us that Satan and his angels were first cast
out of heaven at some time previous to the fall of man (II Pet. 2.4 and
Jude 6), yet he was still permitted at least in Old Testament times to enter
into the presence of God in heaven as the accuser and adversary of man
(Job 2.1-7 and 16.12; Zech. 3.1,2), and that there is no reason to
believe, especially in view of Eph. 6.12, that this was not true in New
Testament times and will be true until the end of this war when he will
be cast down to enter heaven no more forever.
624
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“Michael” ,—Not Christ (L. V. Hen.), inasmuch as Michael of this
verse and the child of verse 5 cannot be the same person. He is Michael,
the archangel, the adversary of Satan in their strife about the body of
Moses, and in the Old Testament the guardian of the Jewish people in
their conflict with heathenism, and the leader of the good angels in all
their conflicts with the power of Satan. (See Dan. 10.13,21; 12,1 and
Jude 9.) (B. D. A. Ew. Au. Eb. Hof. Dus. Gab. Weid.) The con¬
struction is irregular and is best explained by supplying “going forth” as
in our text.
Ver. 8. “neither was their place found any wore in heaven” ,—He
was no longer to maintain any place in heaven.
Ver. 9. The various designations describe his nature and activity
as completely as possible. It shows what the saints on earth, whence he is
cast, have to expect from him.
“serpent”, — (See Gen. 3.1).
“Devil ”,— The Greek for "slanderer”,
"accuser”.
“Satan”, —The Hebrew for "adversary”.
Ver. 10. “a great voice in heaven”, —Whose, is left unknown. Not
of angels (Be.), for they would scarcely have called the saints "our breth¬
ren”, nor of the already perfected saints (B. V.), for they would have
spoken in the first person rather than in the third, and said "our accuser”,
and "we overcame”. It is probably that of the Elders representing the
Church, inasmuch as the expression, "our brethren” suggests this.
Elliott, of course, thinks “heaven” to be symbolical of political eleva¬
tion and power, and that this song prefigures some similar song of the
Christians of the Roman world on the occasion of their triumph and
exaltation over Heathenism under the reigns of Maximin and Licinius and
Julian.
“Now is come” , —i. e., is realized. In the ultimate the textual and
marginal readings are practically the same. The song, it would seem, is
introductory to the final events which are now about to occur.
"our brethren” ,—Elliott, of course, finds here a reference to the
martyr-victors of the antichristian persecution days of the Roman empire,
the " kingdom of our God” referred to in the former part of the verse
being that of Constantine with Christianity dominant in it.
"The dispensation of the kingdom, 'the kingdom of our God/ etc.,”
says Scofield, "begins with the return of Christ to the earth, runs through
the 'thousand years’ of His earthly rule, and ends when He has delivered
up the kingdom to the Father (See II Sam. 7.8 and I Cor. 15.24.).”
“accus2th day and night”, — (Derived from Zech. 3 and Job 1
and 2.)
Ver. II. “they overcame him”, — “They” of course refers to "our
brethren”.
“because of the blood of the Lamb” ,—"Their victory over Satan was
grounded in and was the consequence of the Lamb having shed His blood;
without that the charges of the Adversary against them would have been
unanswerable.” (A.)
625
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“because of the word of their testimony”, —It is because they give a
faithful testimony unto death that they are victorious; this is their part
and the shedding of the blood was the Lamb's part.
Ver. 12. “rejoice”, —Because of what is said in verses 10 and 11.
Those who place the war at the time of the historical ascension of Christ
(A. D. Dus. Weid. Ctav.) give as the principal reason for rejoicing only
the fact that Satan has been cast down, and are of course compelled to
look upon what is said in verse 11 as proleptical, i. e., something recorded
as past but which is still to take place in the future.
“knowing that he hath but a short time ”,—Depending upon the
fact that “the time is at hand" and that the Lord will soon come to judge
Satan together with all his instruments.
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School insists that the “woe"
here announced is to be regarded as a detached and solemn notification by
the dictating prophetic Spirit of some woe soon to come upon the Roman
empire, the reference being to heretical persecutors within the Church, and
to the Gothic scourge which soon came. The first of these he finds in
verse 13, which refers to persecution by bitter Arian emperors, and the
second in the Dragon’s attempt to drown the Church in the Gothic scourge
as prefigured in verse 15. The fleeing into the wilderness he interprets
as a serious decline in the piety and spiritual state of the Church soon after
the establishment of Christianity in the Roman empire, and the two wings
given unto it as the protection afforded the Church by the Eastern and
Western divisions of the Roman empire under Theodosius the Great.
Verse 1 6 he interprets as the overthrow and disappearance of Arianism
by practically all of the Roman earth, and verse 17 as Satan’s efforts
against the doctrines of such men as Augustine and others of the seed that
“kept the commandments of God and held the testimony of Jesus."
Ver. 13. “he persecuted the woman”, —Satan now turns his fury
toward the mother of the child. If the woman is taken as the Old Testa¬
ment Church, in keeping with the explanation already adopted, she must
here, it would seem, be thought of either in one or the other of the two
following ways:
(1) The remnant of Isreal (Moorehead says the 144,000) con¬
verted doubtless by the preaching of the Two Witnesses during
the last days (Gab. Pet. Mor. Sco. Tor.) after the Rapture of
the Church.
(2) The Old Testament Church must be supposed to have passed
in the interim into the new form of the Christian Church,
which is the view of Alford and others of his school, and in
this case the further persecutions of Satan, as directed against
the woman, will relate to the whole of the Church of this dis¬
pensation. If, however, the object of Satan's further hostility
is to be considered as thus directed, an easier solution of the
problem might present itself if the woman be taken in the first
place as representing the Old Testament and the New Testament
Church in undivided unity, or as representing the New Testa¬
ment or Christian Church alone. (See under verse 1, page 620,
views 3 and 2.)
626
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Says Alford, “I own that considering the analogies and the language
used, I am much more disposed to interpret the persecution of the woman
by the Dragon of the various persecutions by the Jews which followed
the Ascension, and her flight into the wilderness of the gradual withdrawal
of the Church and her agency from Jerusalem, finally consummated by
the flight to the mountains on the approaching siege, commanded by our
Lord Himself."
Ver. 14. “the two wings of the great eagle”, —A figure of God’s
delivering Providence. The figure is taken from Ex. 19.4 and Deut.
32.11. The article must not be supposed to identify the eagle with that
of Chap. 8.13 (Eb.), nor with the figures in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
The article is simply generic. (A. D. Dus.)
“into the wilderness”, — (For views of the Historical Schools see
above.) According to the view of the Futurists the reference is here perhaps
to the place of isolation among the nations of the earth during the last days.
John has of course before his mind the picture of Israel fleeing out of
Egypt.
“into her place”, —i. e., prepared for her by God. (Verse 6.) (See Ex.
23.20.)
“she is nourished” ,—As God nourished Israel in the wilderness, so
will He care for these saints (the Jewish remnant, according to the Futur¬
ists) against whom the Dragon is endeavoring to vent his rage.
Some because of this expression, interpret the woman as the invisible
spiritual Church of Christ, the flight into the wilderness meaning that
God's true servants are withdrawn from the eyes of the world. But this
they have been just as much at all times and will continue so until the
great manifestation of the Sons of God.
“from the face of the serpent”, —Not to be connected with “fly”
(V. Zu.), but with “nourished” (A. B. D. El. Ew. Dus. Hen.), import¬
ing safe from, hidden from.
“time and times and half a time ",—In explaining this expression we
must adopt one or the other of three different views:
(a) The year-day theory which reckons a day a year. According
to this mode of reckoning, a day will be a year, a month will be
thirty years and a year will be 360 years.
(b) The symbolic view which gives the expression but a mystical
meaning without chronological force, involving no particular
length of time.
(c) The literal view which makes the period designated to be just
three years and a half, one time (year), two times (two years)
and a half of a time (half year).
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School adopts, as we have seen,
the year-day theory, as do practically all interpreters of this school. It is
however difficult to find the period. If we think of the flight into the
wilderness as taking place any time between the Ascension and the Destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem, 1260 years would bring us to no event which can with
any propriety be pointed out as putting an end to the wilderness state of
the Church. Elliott makes the flight to begin soon after the establishment
of Christianity in the Roman empire (the flight consisting in a serious
627
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
decline in the piety and spiritual state of the Church, thus “vanishing in
its distinctive features from public view”), but then the 1260 years brings
us to a period which is not, says Alford, altogether satisfying as meeting
the requirements of the prophecy. It is also in order to ask here, if the
decline in piety spoken of is the beginning of the wilderness state, was the
open establishment of the Protestant churches the end of it, and this
Elliott would hardly allow.
If we adopt the second view, “we seem,” as Alford says, “to incur
the danger of missing the prophetic sense, and leaving unfixed that which
apparently the Spirit of God intended us to ascertain.”
Futurists in general take the literal view and place this period after
the Rapture of the Church. Petingill refers it to the first half of the
time of Antichrist, while others (Gab. Weid, et al.) refer it to the last
half of the same period. Of course the period is the same as the 1260
days of verse 6, but this need not necessarily refer to the same actual time
as the 1260 days of Chap. 11.3 which we saw referred, according to the
Futurist view, to the first half of the period under consideration. The
most natural inference would be that of Petingill’s, but then the question
would arise as to the woman’s place and protection during the last halt
of the time of Antichrist when she would be especially in need of God's
nourishing care. This consideration inclines us, in case the Futurist inter¬
pretation be accepted, to the view of Gaebelein, and Weidner and others of
this school of interpretation.
Alford says of all prophecies the literal view of this time period can
be applied least satisfactorily to this one. “The conflict,” he says, “is that
between Satan and the Church, whose seed, as expressly interpreted to be.
is God’s Christian people, and is it likely that a few days or years will
limit the duration of a prophecy confessedly of such wide import?”
Ver. 13. Satan's attempt to destroy the saints with a flood. Com¬
pare the passage of Israel through the Red Sea; although Dusterdieck seems
to think that John is simply forming living images from the symbolical
mode of speech of the Old Testament, and here gets his concept from pas¬
sages such as Ps. 18.3-17; 32.6; 42.8, rather than from the passage of
Israel through the Red Sea. The various intrepretations of this “rruer”
are so numerous as to bewilder one.
The Allegorists, pointing to Chap. 17.1, where the “many waters”
are expressly explained as a figure of many nations, make these expressions
identical, and thus we have here a “river of people” which will roll against
the Church. “The abundance of Godless men or various trials” (And.).
Among the Preterists and Historical interpretations are the following:
“The flight of the Christians to Pella” (Ew.) ; “The armies of Vespasian”
(Wet.) ; “Roman persecutions after Nero” (Ham.) ; “The flood of bar¬
barous nations” (Wor. Stern) ; “The Saracens” (V.) ; “The wild Ger¬
manic masses flowing against Rome” (Au.) ; “The army of Antichrist”
(Lap.) ; “The Arian heretics” (Ca.) ; “The force of persecutions” (Hen
Eb.). All of these interpretations take from the passage of course any
and all reference to prophecy yet to be fulfilled. Alford, interpreting the
flight into the wilderness as the flight of the Christians before the destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem, says, “Then the river which the dragon sent out of his
mouth after the woman might be variously understood.—of the Roman
628
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
armies which threatened to sweep away Christianity in the wreck of the
Jewish nation,—or of the persecutions which followed the Church into her
retreats, but eventually became absorbed by the civil power turning Chris¬
tian,—or of the Jewish nation itself, banded together against Christianity
wherever it appeared, but eventually itself becoming powerless against it
by its dispersion and ruin,—or again, of the influx of heretical opinions
from pagan philosophers which tended to swamp the true faith; I confess
that not one of these seems to me satisfactory to answer the conditions;
nor do we gain anything by their combination. But anything within
reasonable regard for the analogies and symbolism of the text seems better
than the now too commonly received Consecutive Historical interpretation,
with its wild fancies and arbitrary assignment of words and figures.”
Weidner remarks, “Although we do not profess to understand or
explain any of these prophecies concerning events still lying in the future,
we deem it far better to accept the idea that God will in some way bring
about all these events as here indicated, than to adopt the strange and arbi¬
trary fancies with which the allegorists and historical interpreters seek to
becloud us.”
Perhaps one of the simplest explanations, whether we adopt the His¬
torical or the Futurist view, is that of Gaebelein, who sees in the water
cast out by Satan a symbol of the hatred which Satan stirs up against the
faithful.
Ver. 16. Some are inclined with Weidner, to take the contents of
this verse literally (see Num. 16.26-35); while others take it sym¬
bolically, as Gaebelein for instance, who says it refers to the help rendered
the believing remnant of Jews by the Gentile nations among whom they
are in isolation, and who have been converted by believing the final message
of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Ver. 17. “the rest of her seed ”,—This verse presents another
puzzling inquiry. Elliott, as we have seen, refers the verse to Satan’s
attempts to subvert the doctrines of such men as Augustine and Vigilantius.
Others of the Historical School say the reference is to the Christians who
survived the earlier persecutions. But in reality there was no "rest” in this
sense, because the efforts of the Dragon as thus conceived were entirely
unsuccessful.
Alford finds himself wondering if the woman after all may not
symbolize the true visible Church, which continued as established by our
Lord and His Apostles, in unbroken unity during the first centuries, but
which as time went on was broken up by evil men and evil doctrines, and
has remained, unseen, unrealized, her unity an article of faith, not of sight,
but still multiplying her seed, those who keep the commandments of God
and have the testimony of Jesus, in various sects and distant countries,
waiting the day for her comely order and oneness again to be manifested,
when the Lord’s prayer for the unity of His people being accomplished,
the world shall believe that the Father sent Him. “If,” says Alford, “we
are disposed to carry out this idea, we might see the great realization of
the flight into the wilderness in the final severance of the Eastern and the
Western churches in the seventh century, and the flood cast after the
woman by the Dragon in the irruption of the Mahometan armies. But
629
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
this, though not less satisfactory than the other interpretations, is as
unsatisfactory."
Among the Futurists, who place the time of all this Satanic hostility
after the Rapture of the Church, the following interpretations are found:
Weidner thinks the reference is to those believers among the Gentiles
who in that day accept the Gospel.
Gaebelein refers it to the godly remnant in the land of Palestine in
distinction from those in isolation among the nations into which the
woman had fled. Similar to this is the view of Moorehead, who refers
the fleeing woman to the 144,000 sealed among the Jews, and the "rest
of her seed " to the Jewish martyrs of the last three and one-half years
which constitute the time of the Great Tribulation, and in this expression
he thinks perhaps the countless throng of Gentiles, as seen in Chap. 7.9-14,
may be included.
The question I own is a puzzling one, but its answer must be sought
in keeping with the school of interpretation to which the student finds
himself inclining.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 and ’he stood upon the sand of the
sea. And I saw a beast coming up out
of the sea, having ten horns and seven
heads, and on his horns ten diadems,
and upon his heads names of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the
feet of a bear, and his mouth as the
mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave
him his power, and his throne, and
great authority. 3 And I saiv one of
his heads as though it had been “smit¬
ten unto death: and his deathstroke was
healed: and the whole earth wondered
after the beast: 4 and they Worshipped
the dragon, because he gave his author¬
ity unto the beast: and they Wor¬
shipped the beast, saying, Who is like
unto the beast? and who is able to war
with him? 5 and there was given to
him a mouth speaking great things and
blasphemies: and there was given to
’Some ancient authorities read, / stood &C.,
connecting the clause with what follows
‘Gr. slain
3 See marginal note on Verse 12
him authority 4 to continued forty and
two months. 6 And he opened his
mouth for blasphemies against God, to
blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle,
even them that ‘dwell in the heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make
war with the saints, and to overcome
them: and there was given to him
authority over every tribe and people
and tongue and nation. 8 And all that
dwell on the earth shall ‘worship him,
every one whose name hath not been
"written from the foundation of the
world In the book of life of the Lamb
that hath been slain. 9 If any man
hath an ear, let him hear. 10 ’If any
man 8 rs for captivity, into captivity he
goeth: if any man shall kill with the
sword, with the sword must he be
killed. Here is the “patience and the
faith of the saints.
4 Or, to do his works during See Dan. 11.28
f Gr. tabernacle
®Or, written in the book . . . slain from
the foundation of the world
’The Greek text in this verse is somewhat
uncertain
8 Or, leadeth into cactivity
®Or, stedfastness
Vers. 1-10. The Beast Out op the Sea.
Ver. 1. “and he (the Dragon) stood upon the sand of the sea ",—
In order to call forth the beast out of the sea, to whom he is to give all
his power and authority.
“out of the sea ”,—By the vast majority of commentators the sea is
taken, and rightly, as symbolic of the disordered and confused life of the
Gentile nations of the world. (L. F. E. A. Be. Eb, Bar. Hen. Hof. Vic.
And. Lap. Coc. Kli. Wor. Pet. Lee. Cow. Weid. Moor. Stern.)
630
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
4 4 ten horns', —Mentioned first not because they are crowned (A. F.),
but doubtless because appearing first as the beast rises from the sea. (B.
Hen. Weid.)
"upon his heads names of blasphemy ”, —It is not, as Zundel say s,
one letter on each head; nor perhaps as others (D. Ew. Hen. Dus.) say, the
same name on each head. The meaning is doubtless that each one of the
heads appears to have a frontlet with an inscription on it that was blas¬
phemous, in that it ascribed some attribute to this power that belonged
to God alone. Alford seems to think the reference is to the divine titles
given to kings.
The beast, which is the same as that in Chap. 1 7, has seven heads
and ten horns, on each horn a crown, and on each head a name of blas¬
phemy. In Chap. 17.9 we are told that the seven heads are seven moun¬
tains; in Chap. 17.10 we are told that the seven heads are seven kings;
in Chap. 17.11 we are told that the beast himself is an eighth king, and
in Chap. 17.12 we are told that the ten horns are ten kings. It would
seem that this beast bears some relation to the fourth beast which Daniel
saw rising out of the sea, Daniel saw four beasts coming up out of the
sea. Daniel’s fourth beast had ten horns and among them there was a
“little horn’’ which came up and plucked up three of the other horns, and
made war with the saints.
Ver. 2. Dusterdieck and Cowles say this description of the beast
refers merely to its rapacity and power uniting in itself the most dreadful
weapons of the strongest beasts.
The first of Daniel's beasts was like a lion, the second like a bear,
the third like a leopard and the fourth was a strange nondescript with ten
horns. The beast which John saw, as will be seen from its description,
seems to be a compound of Daniel’s first three beasts, the beast of John
being himself identical with Daniel’s fourth beast. (A. L. F. El. Pet. Gab.
Sco. Will.)
Says Scofield, "The three animals, leopard, bear and lion, are found
in Dan. 7.4-6 as symbols of the empires which preceded Rome, and whose
characteristics all entered into the qualities of the Roman empire; Mace¬
donian swiftness of conquest, Persian tenacity of purpose and Babylonish
voracity. This first beast of John is the same as the fourth beast of Daniel
(Dan. 7.24). The ' ten horns’ are explained in Dan. 7.24 and Rev. 17.12
to be ten kings, and the whole vision is of the last form of Gentile world-
power, a confederate ten-kingdom empire covering the sphere of authority
of ancient Rome. The first three verses of this chapter refer to the ten-
kingdom empire, while verses 4-10 refer to the ten-kingdom emperor, who
is emphatically the beast. (See Rev. 19.20.)"
It would seem, as Williams says, that "he represents some great prin¬
ciple of evil found in all the heathen kingdoms."
“the dragon gave him his power”, etc., —In order to use him as the
instrument of his diabolical wrath against the rest of the seed of the
woman.
Ver. 3. “and his deathstroke was healed” ,—The whole chapter is a
difficult one to interpret and this and other perplexing expressions must be
explained in keeping of course with the interpretation which is given to the
beast introduced by the first verse of the chapter.
631
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
It is a much mooted question as to just what the beast refers. Some
declare that it represents merely the aggregate or sum total of the God-
opposed empires of the world and that it is not to be restricted to any
particular manifestation. But David Brown has very properly said, “The
beast is described with such precision as well as fullness of detail that it
will not do to generalize it away by calling it simply the great world-power
which in every age is antagonistic to the kingdom of God. It is contrary
to all principles of strict interpretation to dispose of detail so specific, so
varied and so peculiar in this way.”
This beast and the one in verse 1 1 are doubtless, as Cowles says,
co-ordinate and co-operative and therefore contemporaneous.
Interpreters of the Historical Schools here unite in referring the whole
description to Rome, but they are all so divided among themselves that
utter confusion really prevails.
Some of them refer the whole chapter to Papal Rome, exercising both
political power, as represented by the first beast, and ecclesiastical power
as represented by the second beast, the second beast representing the Papal
Priesthood. (B. V. El. Ca. Coc. Lud.) As a fair example of this inter
pretation the following is gleaned from Elliott. He says in substance:
The “sea" is the flood of invading Goths; the image of the
beast is the Papal Councils of Western Europe. The “Antichrist"
of Saint John and the “little horn" of Daniel are one and the same.
When the angel in Chap. 17.9 said the seven heads of the first
beast were seven hills he fastened the symbol at once to Rome, the
seven hills of the city of Rome, which at once refutes any interpreta¬
tion that refers the heads to the seven successive world powers, of
which it is said in Chap. 17.10 that five had fallen before John's
time (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece), while the sixth,
which then was, referred to Rome during John's own time; the
remaining one which is yet to come being variously understood.
When the angel further said that the seven heads were seven
“kings" or “kingdoms" he makes it plain that he refers to seven
heathen-like Governors or rather successive forms of government.
The first six heads are (and this is the generally received Protestant
interpretation) Kings, Consuls, Dictators, Decemvirs and Military
Tribunes (the first five which are fallen) and the imperial form com¬
mencing with Augustus Caesar. The seventh head was the govern¬
ment under Diocletian and his three colleagues.
Under Julian the last heathen head of the Roman empire was
struck down through an edict by Theodosius (which was the wound
unto death), the pagan sacrifices and temples being suppressed, but
in the rise of Papacy this deadly wound of the last pagan ruling head
was healed. The ten horns sprouting from the beast’s last or Papal
head refer to ten kingdoms existing about A. D. 532, Anglo-Saxons.
Franks of Central, Alleman-Franks of Eastern, Burgundic-Franks of
South Eastern France, Visigoths, Suevi, Vandals, Ostrogoths,
Bavarians, and the Lombards. The ten horns all sprout from the
eighth head and this eighth head is the Popes. The Popes are the
Antichrist and all that is said of the persecution and blasphemy of
the beast is true of the Popes. The miracles are pretended miracles
and 666 means Lateinos.
632
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Others refer the first beast to Pagan Rome and the second beast to
Papal Rome. (Bar. Faber, Bickersteth, Cuninghame.) As a fair example
of this interpretation the following is gleaned from Barnes. He says in
substance:
The ten horns refer to Rome contemplated as made up of ten
subordinate kingdoms just after the invasion of the Northern hordes
and at the time the Papacy was about to rise. After the time of
Constantine the Pagan Roman empire began its decline, and, as if
wounded to death, would have become extinct had it not been revived
in the days of Charlemagne under the influence of Papal Rome,
which latter is the second beast of verse 11.
The worship mentioned in verse 4 is not religious worship, but
homage such as is shown to one whom we deem our superior and
all such homage rendered under Papal Rome was really homage to
Satan.
Verses 6 and 7 refer to the Albigenses and the Waldensians. The
miracles are only pretended miracles, i. e., “signs and lying wonders/’
Making an image of the beast and causing it to live means that
John saw in a vision such a state of things existing as if, or similar
to what would be the case if an image had been made of the beast,
or Pagan Roman empire, and the people did homage to it. All this
would have been fulfilled if Pagan Rome, the old Roman secular
imperial power, should become to a large extent dead or cease to
exert its influence over men (wounded, as it were, to death), and if
then the Papal spiritual power should cause a form of domination
to exist strongly resembling the former in its general character and
extent; and this very thing was done in the empire that sprung up
in the days of Charlemagne through the influence of the Papacy. In
this we discern the image of the former Roman power. Causing the
image to breath and speak, in verse 15, means giving signs of life and
issuing authoritative commands, while “worship" again refers to
homage shown to the empire or the emperors.
The “mark" of verse 16 means that there would be some mark
of distinction, some indelible sign, something that would designate
with entire certainty those persons who belonged to the Papacy, and
this is true inasmuch as one can usually tell the Roman Catholic.
Verse 17 refers to the Papacy trying to control the markets and the
wealth of the world. Often they have prohibited trade or traffic with
the Protestants.
Others again refer the whole chapter to Pagan Rome, the second
beast representing the Pagan Priesthood. (D. Al. Be. Ew. Ei. Bl. Lu. Cow.
Vic. Gro. Ham. Bos. Wet. Her. Dus. Ale.)
Cowles says the second beast cannot be Papal Rome because Papal
Rome did not exist in the age of the first seven emperors whose regime
was 600 years before Papal Rome became a well-defined system and 1000
years before she became a persecuting power. He says it referred to the
Pagan Priesthood which everywhere ministered to the idolatrous homage
paid to the Roman emperors and everywhere inspired the animus of
Paganism.
633
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Others again refer the first beast to the secular persecuting power
(Pagan or Papal) and the second beast to the sacerdotal (priestly) perse¬
cuting power. While this latter refers primarily to the Pagan Priesthood,
inasmuch as it was this that made the image of the emperors, compelled
the Christians to do homage to the same, and wrought the pretended
miracles mentioned, it refers as well to the Papal or so-called Christian
Priesthood. (A.) The wounded head, says Alford, represents the Roman
empire, which, having long been a head of the beast, was crushed and to
all appearances exterminated, but was healed in the establishment of the
Christian Roman empire. The image of the Beast for the time being
would be the image of the reigning emperor, the giving of life to the image
referring doubtless to some lying wonders permitted to the Pagan priests
to try the faith of God’s people. The buying and selling refers to the
commercial and spiritual interdicts laid on nonconformity, both of Pagan
and Papal persecutors.
Craven, who wavers between the Historical and the Futurist views,
says in substance:
The wounded head is the sixth or Roman world-power, the
wound consisting not only in the fact of Rome’s nominal conversion
under Constantine but also to the fact that shortly after Constantine
it ceased to be a Roman sovereignty. The empire under Charlemagne
cannot be the seventh head since it never extended over the field of
the Eastern Churches and not indeed over all the Western. If the
seventh head is to be analogous with the other six we must look for
it still in the future. He does not deny the possibility of the Futurist
view and in fact commits himself to the view that the consummate
fulfillment is still in the future.
The seven heads and ten horns are, as we have seen, variously inter¬
preted. Among those who refer the beast to Pagan Rome many explain
the seven heads as seven individual emperors of Rome. (D. Bl. Ei. Ew. Lu.
Vic. Hil. Cor. Bau.) Hammond and Grotius refer the seven heads and
the ten horns to the seven hills of Rome and the ten servant kings.
Dusterdieck, who applies the beast to Pagan Rome, says the seven
heads are seven emperors and the ten horns are ten emperors, seven of whom
were real emperors (one for each head) and the other three were usurpers
growing up between the fifth and sixth heads, the tenth horn therefore
corresponding to the seventh head being still in the future.
Of those who restrict the beast to Papal Rome, some refer the seven
heads and ten horns to seven forms of Roman government and the ten
kingdoms subservient to the Papacy from the French kingdom to the
Polish.
Among those who decline to restrict the reference of the beast to
Rome we have the seven heads referred to “the seven world-periods”
(And.), “the seven kings before the appearance of the Antichrist” (Lap.),
“the seven persecutions of Christians” (Al.), “the seven powers hostile
to Christianity corresponding to the seven periods of the New Testament
history” (Stern), and as we have before seen, Craven joins with others
(A. K. Eb. Hen. And. Mil. Dau. Bur. Glas.) in referring the seven heads
to the seven world-powers, w*hich they interpret as Egypt, Assyria, Baby¬
lon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and finally, as the seventh, the Roman
empire with its ten horns which followed the downfall of Rome upon
634
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the Barbaric invasion and under which we now live; while others (Fu.
Hof. Lud.) omit Egypt and starting with Assyria give us the following,
Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Macedonia, Syria under Antiochus Epiphanes,
Rome, and finally, as seventh, the future Apocalyptic Kingdom.
Burgh says the generally received interpretation that the whole chap¬
ter refers to Papal Rome in its political and ecclesiastical character, i. e., the
empire and the Hierarchy of the Papacy, is refuted by the following:
1. No one has ever found the ten-fold division of the empire.
Twenty-eight different commentators have named sixty-five differ¬
ent kingdoms, reckoning only once the kingdoms common to the
different lists. What would it be if all the commentators were
consulted!
2. Study the meaning of "blasphemy" in the Bible and you will
find that while the character of Rome is corruption and perversion
of the truth, it is not that of daring and open-mouthed blasphemy.
3. Papal Rome never, either politically or ecclesiastically, had such
power over all the world is here depicted.
4. Even if the 1260 days mean "years" none of them have been able
to agree as to when they begin or when they end; whether they
have already ended or whether the saints are yet in the power of
the beast: and the saints themselves do not seem to know!
5. The word " miracles" is the same word as that used not of pre¬
tended or trick miracles, but of real miracles, and as such they
have never yet been performed by the Papal Priesthood.
6. The Papacy does not kill those who do not worship as it dictates
and it never has.
7. This class of interpreters has as many different interpretations
of 666 as there are interpreters.
Burgh says that beasts uniformly represent "kingdoms" and horns,
"kings". In Chap. 17 it is plainly said that the ten horns are ten kings
who receive power for one hour (the same hour), and they have one mind,
showing plainly that ten contemporaneous kings are meant, whose history
embraces only a short time. Kingdoms may be extended through many
centuries and that is why it was substituted here for "kings", because it
suited better the historical system of the men who did the translating.
Among other Historical interpretations of the head that was wounded
the following may be noted:
It was given to the Roman empire by the migration of nations
but was healed by the rising of a new Roman empire whose chief
strength lay in the Germanic nations. (L. Au. Eb. Ca.)
It was the Grecian part of the Roman empire wounded by Julian
restoring the worship of the Gods and healed by the removal of
Julian and the succession of Javian. (Coc.)
It was the Roman empire invaded by the Moors for 700 years
and healed by their expulsion by King Ferdinand. (Nicolai.)
It was Papal Rome wounded by the humiliation of Pope Alex¬
ander III by Emperor Frederick and healed by the humiliation of
Frederick by the Pope in 1177.
635
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
It was the influence of Christ's victory on the Cross that made
the wound, and the healing was the later outward prosperous condi¬
tion of the Roman empire, the new life which it displayed, the
success that attended its persecutions, etc. (Hen.)
It refers to the death of Nero, who was actually put to death
by a sword stroke. Thus most of those who refer the seven heads
to seven individual kings. (D. Lu. Bl. Ei. Dus. Cor. Hil. Vol. Vic.
Bau. Renan.)
Many of these last quoted commentators refer the healing to Nero’s
return from hell to be the final Antichrist. But Dusterdieck quite properly
disposes of this assumption, while in turn he makes the healing refer to the
restoration of the empire by Vespasian to its ancient strength and vitality.
The only way you can get Nero out of 666 is by the use of the Hebrew
alphabet and the value of the letters as understood in that day, but Brown
protests and rightly against this in a book written entirely in Greek. The
seven heads of the beast Dusterdieck refers to seven emperors, Augusta,
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian and Titus, while the ten
horns he refers to the same emperors with Galba, Otho and Vitellius, the
usurpers coming in between Nero and Vespasian, thus making Titus cor¬
respond to the seventh head. Together with the authorities quoted above,
he makes the wounded head to be Nero, the fifth head. Others (Au. Eb.
Hen.) who make the seven heads refer to seven world-powers, refer the
wounded head to the sixth world-power, i. e., the Roman world-power of
John's time. Chap. 17.8-11 says the future eighth king would be the
personified beast himself.
Having given pretty largely the interpretation of the chapter from
the standpoint of the Historical School, we will now follow quite largely
the interpretation of the Futurists.
The Futurist School, of course, thinks of the beast as a symbol of that
which is still future and refer the prophecy to the days of the Antichrist
which are still to come.
Scofield says, “Fragments of the ancient Roman empire have never
ceased to exist as separate kingdoms. It was the imperial form of govern¬
ment which ceased; the one head wounded to death. What we have
practically in Rev. 13.3 is the restoration of the imperial form of govern¬
ment as such, though over a federated empire of ten kingdoms; the ‘head’
is ‘healed’, i. e., restored; there is an emperor again—the beast.”
Most of the Futurists say the first beast is undoubtedly the Antichrist
himself (Pet. Lee. Will. Weid. Moor.), although others of this school
make the second beast, the beast out of the earth, to be the Antichrist.
(Sco. Gab.) The Futurists expect that in the days of the Antichrist there
will be a revived Roman empire and that the ten horns of the beast stand
for the ten kingdoms into which this empire is to be divided.
Moorehead says the seven heads are seven successive empires, the
first being Egypt, and the sixth the Rome that was, while the seventh is
still future, the revived Roman empire which is the beast out of the sea,
the emperor which is the same as “little horn ' of Dan. 9.27 and the Anti¬
christ.
Gaebelein says the first beast is this revived Roman empire. He says
636
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the seven heads refer to the seven forms of government which have charac¬
terized the empire in the past. The seventh head becomes the eighth
and it is this eighth head which is wounded as unto death, denoting, as he
claims, the imperial form of government which had died and is now
revived in the person of the leader, the " little horn" of Daniel. He thinks
the second beast is the Antichrist. He explains the identification of the first
beast as a person and an empire by the famous statement of Louis XIV,
who said, “I am France."
Petingill says this first beast, the Antichrist, comes up out of the sea
of the Gentile world and is a Roman prince, though at the same time an
apostate Jew.
Ver. 4. "and they worshipped the dragon . . . the beast", —"Such
is the final issue of modern civilization, of all this vaunted progress in
thought, art, science and methods of education." (Weid.) "The very
phraseology in which they express their worship," says Dusterdieck, "seems
like a blasphemous parody of the praise with which the Old Testament
Church celebrates the incomparable glory of the living God."
"who is able to make war with him", —Implying seemingly a desire
to begin the conflict with the Christians who did not worship the beast,
and referring perhaps to the great battles for which all things in the
Apocalypse are preparing.
Ver. 5. " given him", —i. e., by God (L. Bl. Dus. Weid.) ; per¬
mitted to use his mouth in such a way. Only in accordance with God’s
will can the dragon equip his beast—a consolation for believers.
" speaking great things and blasphemies" ,—i. e., words of outrageous
arrogance and self-glorification.
"to continue", —better "to work during" (as in the margin). (See
Dan. 8.24 and 11.28.) (A. V. F. D. Zu. Hen. Dus.)
"forty and two months" ,—The well-known period of the three and
one-half years of the Antichrist. The last half of Daniel's "seventieth
week," says Weidner. Lange says this expression is not to be chronologi¬
cally calculated. (See other opinions in previous exegesis on page 633.)
Ver. 6. Describing together with verse 7 more fully what is said
in verse 5.
"blaspheme His name" ,—Calumny against God Himself, especially
fulfilled by the beast usurping divine names.
"his tabernacle", —Doubtless referring to heaven. (A. F. Dus.)
"them that dwell in heaven", —i. e., the angels and the departed
souls of believers. Fausset also includes believers on earth who have their
citizenship in heaven.
Ver. 7. "over every tribe", etc., —i. e., universal empire and do¬
minion.
"and to overcome them", —Insofar perhaps as the saints must suc¬
cumb to his power and suffer prison, affliction and death. Weidner remarks,
“Though many shall fall away and worship the beast even among pro¬
fessing Christians (Matt. 24.9-12), the true believers shall be preserved
through (or exempted from,—according to the exegesis adopted) the
Great Tribulation." Gaebelein and those who teach the "any moment
rapture" and that the Church will be caught up before the Great Tribu¬
lation takes place, make the saints here the Jewish saints, while those who
637
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
believe the Church will go through the Great Tribulation make them the
saints who will be living on the earth just prior to the coming of Christ.
Ver. 8. "all that dwell upon the earth", —A description usual for
those who are in antithesis to those whose conversation is in heaven, i. e..
unbelievers, the ungodly, worldlings.
"shall worship him", —Not the "dragon" (L. Dus.), but the beast.
All this points to the great and final apostacy predicted by our Lord.
(Matt. 25.1 1,12) and of which we read also in II Thess. 2.3.
"from the foundation of the world ",—Taken by many with our
f^xt as modifying "written" . (L. A. R. V. B. D. Zu. Eb. BI. Ew. Dus.
Hen. Hei. Ham. Gro. Mil. Crav. Weid. Brown.) By others it is taken
as modifying "slain". (A. L. F. Be. Bl. Eb. PI. Vul. Wor. Lee. Sad. Carp.
Boyd, Blunt. Curry, Pearson.) I Peter 1.19,20 and John 17.24, and the
position of the words here favor the latter view. Chap. 17.8 does not con¬
tradict this verse here because no other element than that of writing is
introduced there. Yet it does have an influence in deciding this question.
Furthermore, as Craven says, the foreordination of a thing and its occur-
ance are two different things. The Lamb was not slain from the founda¬
tion of the world, though in the counsel of God it was so ordained. We
think, therefore, the former view is to be preferred.
Ver. 9. Bespeaking solemn attention to what follows.
Ver. 10. The Greek text here is uncertain. The reading of our
text is a prophetic declaration of how it shall fare with the saints in the
day of persecution, their trials being severally appointed by God’s fixed
counsel. (See Jer. 43.1 1 and Zech. 11.9.) The verse is both a warning
to believers to suffer with patience without having recourse to weapons
of carnal welfare, because “they that take the sword shall perish by the
sword” (Weid.), and a warning to the persecutors that they shall be
punished with retribution in kind; while in this last fact, namely, that
God will avenge his elect, some see an intended consolation to believers.
"here is", —i. e., in the patient endurance of these afflictions.
1 1 And I saw another beast coming
up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like unto a lamb, and he spake
as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all
the authority of the first beast in his
sight. And he maketh the earth and
them that dwell therein to 'worship the
first beast, whose deathstroke was healed.
13 And he doeth great signs, that he
should even make fire to come down
out of heaven upon the earth in the
sight of men. 14 And he deceiveth
them that dwell on the earth by reason
of the signs which it was given him to
do in the sight of the beast: saying to
them that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast who
hath the stroke of the sword and lived.
15 And it was given ur?fo him to give
1 The Greek word denotes an act of rever-
enre whether paid to a creature, or to the
Creator.
breath to it, even to the image of the
beast, 'that the image of the beast should
both speak, and cause that as many as
should not 'worship the image of the
beast should be killed. 16 And he
causeth all, the small and the great, and
the rich and the poor, and the free and
the bond, that there be given them a
mark on their right hand, or upon their
forehead: 17 and that no man should
be able to buy or to sell, save he that
hath the mark, even the name of the
beast or the number of his name. 1 8
Here is wisdom. He that hath under¬
standing, let him count the number of
the beast: for it is the number of a
man; and his number is 'Six hundred
and sixty and six.
*Some ancient authorities read that even the
image of the beast should speak; and he shill
cause d^c.
*Soine ancient authorities read Six hundred
and sixteen .
638
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Vers. 11-18. The Beast Out of the Earth.
Ver. 11. "another beast coming up", —This second beast, an ac¬
complice of the first, leading the people to worship him, seems to be a
personification of false prophecy. (See Chaps. 16.13; 19.20; 20.10 and
Matt. 24.11,24.)
"out of the earth", —Dusterdieck thinks this refers to the fact that
this beast is to work upon the inhabitants of the earth. Others (Hen.
Lee) see here a symbol of the earthly, sensual, worldly, demoniacal nature
of the beast. Alford and Fausset say it means “out of human society and
its progress, just as ‘out of the s?a was an empire rising up out of con¬
fusion into order and life.” We are inclined to the view of Milligan and
others, who, regarding the sea as the Gentile nations opposed to God, would
refer the earth to the Jews as God's prophetic and priestly people, the beast
thus having a religious and not a secular origin.
"two horns like unto a lamb", —We hardly think this is meant as a
contrast with the Iamb of seven horns (Chap. 5.6) as of less power, and as
though the two-horned beast claimed to exercise all the power of Christ,
even though this may be true. If there is any contrast it is with the first
beast, but we are inclined to think that the number in itself has no special
significance, but only expresses the resemblance of a Iamb and designating
the peculiarity of false prophetism, and as a lamb it must necessarily have
two horns. (See Matt. 7.15 where is found the warning of Christ against
false prophets.)
"spake as a dragon", —“Though the appearance and profession of
this second beast are sacerdotal its words and acts are devilish," says
Alford, who doubts not that the term dragon is chosen on account of the
dragon before mentioned even though we did not hear the first dragon
speaking (which Dusterdieck offers as an objection to the reference).
“He looks like Christ and is like Satan", (Sim.)
Scofield says, “This beast out of the earth is the same as the false
prophet of Chaps. 16.13; 19.20; 20.10 and is the Antichrist. He is the
last ecclesiastical head, as the beast of verses 1-8 is the last civil head. For
purposes of persecution he is permitted to exercise the autocratic power
of the emperor-beast." (Bla. Gab.)
Ver. 12. "in his sight”, —i. e., beneath the eyes of the first beast as
a prime minister would serve his king.
"whose deathstroke was healed", — (See verse 3, the cause of the
astonishing adoration.)
Ver. 13. "doeth great signs", —Of course all those who refer this
second beast to Papal Rome, as does the Historical School, say that these
miracles are not real, but ostensible, illusive wonders. (L. A.)
Others claim them to be real from the fact that the same noun and
verb are used as John used in his Gospel and the noun is the same as that
generally used to designate the miracles of Christ. (Crav.) Still others
say they are real but are miracles of demoniacal kind and by demon aid like
those of the Egyptian magicians. (V. F. Weid.)
"that", —Whether we read “so that" (A. B. Hen.) or "that", the
sense is quite the same. In the latter case "that" explains the conception of
"great", i. e., miracles, great,—so great "that",
639
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“causeth fire to come down ”,—mimicing Pentecost, says Bede. But
this is hardly to be thought of. We are more apt, as Dusterdieck says,
to think of the miracles of Elijah (I Kings 18) and so regard this false
prophet as the forerunner of the Antichrist even as Elijah went before the
true Christ and shall again precede Him at his second coming.
Ver. 14. This power to perform miracles was given to Him by
Satan subject to the will of God and by these diabolical miracles the
worldly-minded are deceived.
‘‘make an image of the beast”, —Lange, though not a Futurist, is
quite right we think in saying, “It is not an image of the first beast in
the abstract but in his quality of having the deathstroke and reviving
again that is commanded", or as Weidner, a Futurist, puts it, “Just as
Paul maintained that Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God by
His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1.4), so in the times of the Anti¬
christ stress will be laid on the fact that though this first beast had received
his deathstroke, nevertheless he had lived again and that therefore he had
established his right to claim divine majesty and worship."
Ver. 15. “cause”, —The subject of this verb is not the false prophet
(D. Ew. Zu.) but the image now made alive (Bl.).
Dusterdieck says, “The description contains a suggestion of what has
been reported concerning divine images actually speaking and John appears
to presuppose the reality of such demoniacal miracles." But John could
hardly be so superstitious as this explanation would involve. Dusterdieck
of course refers the image to that of the deified emperors, such Christians
being put to death as would not worship the same.
Gaebelein thinks the image will most likely be put up outside of the
land of Palestine, perhaps in Rome, while Weidner suggests that it will
be placed in the temple at Jerusalem and constitute the abomination of
desolation that Christ refers to in Matthew and to which Daniel referred
three times. (Pet.)
Gaebelein says the first beast is a political power, the second a reli¬
gious leader; the first a Gentile power with a Gentile head, and the second,
a Jew, else his claim of being Israel’s true Messiah would not be accepted
by the Jews. He says the second beast is the final, personal Antichrist,
the man of sin, the son of perdition. His two horns are an imitation of
the priestly and kingly power of Christ.
Ver. 16. “He”, —the second beast.
“a mark”, —Even as masters brand their slaves, and kings their sub¬
jects. Dusterdieck says that they put the mark on themselves by the mere
fact of their being deceived by the second beast to worship the first beast.
But Chaps. 14.9; 16.2; 19.20; 20.4 to which he refers hardly support
his view, and the stamping is more naturally understood of those whose
office it is, the subject here being left uncertain.
“on their right hand and on their forehead” ,—the most conspicuous
part of the body where it is most readily presentable to the eye. The
purpose being visibility, whether it be attached to the one or the other
place is a matter of indifference. Hengstenberg thinks, "on the forehead
for confession and on the right hand as the instrument for action", while
640
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Faussct says, “a prostration of bodily and mental powers to the beast's
domination is impliedBut these are, of course, mere surmises.
Ver. 1 7. The mark is the name of the beast, or the number of his
name, i. e., the number which the letters of his name make when added
together according to the practice of thus calculating the numerical value
of letters in names which was widely prevalent. “Most commentators,"
says Weidner, “think that we dare not interpret here literally of an actual
mark impressed,—that as in the case of the servants of God no actual
visible mark is intended, so here the mark signifies, as Alford says, 'rather
conformity and addiction to the behests of the beast'."
”to buy or to sell ",—Those bearing the mark will hinder the inter¬
course even in business of the saints who do not have the mark. The
Antichrist will control the labor market. In order to buy or sell one will
have to join the organization of which the Antichrist is the head.
Dennett says, “Under the mask of the welfare of the empire all will
be subjected to this awful tyranny under the pains and penalties of the
deprivation of the commonest liberty of the individual." Petingill calls
it, “The logical heading up of the boycott system."
Ver. 18. “Here is wisdom ",—It takes wisdom to understand the
mysterious mark.
“it is the number of a man ”,—The number can be found because it
is expressed in a human way, i. e., counted as men generally count.
‘‘six hundred and sixty-six ”,—These figures must not be taken as
an expression of time. (Be.) Others think that we must not accept any
interpretation of them that does not find in them the indication of some
name.
It is well known that each letter of the alphabet in the Greek as
well as the Hebrew had a value attached to it, as noted above. Among
the Historical School of interpreters more than 100 attempted solutions
or guesses, some of them very ingenious, have been tabulated. If the
Hebrew alphabet is used, perhaps the name of Nero furnishes the best
solution. This is at present a very popular interpretation and the modern
school of rationalism boastingly claims it as the only possible solution.
(Thus Ew. Fri. Hit. Hil. Vol. St. Da. Cow. Gebh. Baur. Renan, Benary,
Reuss, Hausrath.) However, by far the larger number of scholars agree
that it is entirely out of place to use the Hebrew alphabet for this name in
a book that is written entirely in Greek.
The most plausible of the explanations in which the Greek alphabet
is used is the word Lateinos, meaning Latin, and thus containing a refer¬
ence to the Roman empire. The numerical value of the letters are as
follows: 30-1-300-5-10-50-70-200, making in all 666. To this view
are inclined A. D. F. Ei. Eb. Bl. Ca. Dus. Wor. Sad. Lee. Crav. SchafF.
From the viewpoint of the Futurist School we see no reason at present
why the solution of Lateinos may not be retained with a reference of
course to the revived Roman empire, although we have nowhere seen this
view advocated.
Some of the Futurists take the figures symbolically, it being, says
Petingill, “the number of incompleteness thrice repeated. It is ever short
of the perfect seven, showing that however the Antichrist may try to show
641
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
himself forth as God, he will fail to deceive at least the very elect." Says
Gaebelein, "Six is incomplete and is man’s number. It is humanity fallen,
filled with pride, defying God."
Of the two solutions, Lateinos and the symbolical interpretation we
are inclined to the former, but until the Antichrist comes the mystery will
not be solved, but when he comes believers will be able to recognize him
by this number.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
This chapter contains seven visions recording apparently the main
events of the closing days of this age.
1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb
standing on the mount Zion, and with
him a hundred and forty and four thou¬
sand, having his name, and the name of
his Father, written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as
the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of a great thunder: and the voice
which I heard u>cs as the voice of harp¬
ers harping with their harps: 3 and
they sing as it were a new song before
the throne, and before the four living
creatures and the elders: and no man
could learn the song save the hundred
and forty and four thousand, even they
that had been purchased out of the
earth. 4 These are they that were not
defiled with women; for they are vir¬
gins. These are they that follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These
were purchased from among men, fo be
the firstfruits unto God and unto the
Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was
found no lie: they are without blemish.
Vers. 1-5, The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion.
Says Dusterdieck concerning the purpose of this first vision, “The
manifestation of the blessed with the Lamb in eternal glory is intented
to give believers who are on earth, and exposed to persecution on the part
of the Dragon, a pledge inspiring courage and patience, that if they remain
faithful they too shall attain to that glory." (Bar.) Says Dennett, "In
Chap. 13 the frightful oppression and persecution of the saints is seen;
and in this vision they are displayed as having been tried and come forth
as gold."
Ver. 1. '7 saw and behold ",—Marking the unexpected, forcible
contrast to the preceding vision and the lively introduction to that which
follows.
"or7 the mount Zion’ \—Says Alford, "I would call attention of the
reader to the fact, essential to the right understanding of the vision, that
the harpers and the song are in heaven and the 144,000 on earth." (A.
D. St. El. Gab. Per. Den. Weid.) On the other hand many place the
144,000 in heaven as well. (V. B. Eb. Ei. Zu. Ew. Gro. Hen. Lap. Dus.
Lord, Stern.)
Hengstenberg says, "As certainly as the voice from heaven in verse 2 is
the voice of the 144,000, so certainly must the mount Zion where the Lamb
stands with them be the heavenly one. According to verse 3 the throne
of God is on Mount Zion, but this belongs to the heavenly Zion and
not to the earthly."
The arguments as presented by either side are not at all strong or
convincing. Hearing the voice "from heaven” immediately after seeing
the 144,000 some claim implies by contrast that the 144,000 were on
642
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
earth. But there is little, if any, strength in this argument. The state¬
ment, however, in verse 3 that the 144,000 were “redeemed from the
earth” might seem to imply that they were in heaven, while the fact that
they learn and join in the song lends added weight to this fact. We see
no good reason at this time why they should not be thought of as being
in heaven. They are redeemed believers. This is certain. The vision is
for the comfort and encouragement of those believers who are to endure
the persecutions of the beast. Terrible judgments are about to fall and
the visions of this chapter and the next are given to prepare the people
for them.
"having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their fore -
heads’, —While the ungodly are marked with the name of the beast, these
children of God are here shown as marked with the name of Christ and
the Father.
“the hundred and forty and four thousand”, —Dusterdieck objects
to identifying these with the 144,000 of Chap. 7.4 because of the lack
of the definite article. But this in itself is evidence quite insufficient. It
would seem as if the two groups were to be considered identical from the
fact, (1) that the number is the same, (2) that both are sealed and the
seal of Chap. 7.4 may easily be the same as here, (3) that both are elect
and firstfruits, though it is not distinctly so stated of the 144,000 in
Chap. 7.4. Moorehead, referring to Chap. 3.10, suggests that there may
be Gentiles among them. Many writers (Bl. Vo. Are. Lap. Nea.) agree
with Dusterdieck but the vast majority of commentators identify the two
groups. (A. L. F. V. B. D. St. Eb. Ew. Zu. Ei. Gro. Hil. Hei. Hen. Kli.
Gab. Pet. Crav. Weid. Glas. Moor. Gebh. Lord, Renck.)
Ver. 2. “a voice from heaven ”,—
1. If the 144,000 are in heaven, this is doubtless their voice. (B. V.
Hen.) Hengstenberg calls attention to the fact,
(a) that in Chap. 15.2 it is those who have gotten the victory
over the beast who have the harps of God;
(b) that the “new song” is in Scripture always represented as
being sung by those to whom it relates;
(c) that harps belong to the Church according to Chap. 5.8, and
the expression “before the elders” (verse 3) presents no diffi¬
culty, because it is perfectly proper to distinguish believers
(he makes the 144,000 represent the whole redeemed
Church) from their representatives. Of course the voice
belongs to the harpers. They are harp-singers, accompany¬
ing the harps with their voices.
2. If the 144,000 are on earth, then the harp-singers must be found
in another body. Weidner conceives them to be angels. Gaebe-
lein says they are the martyrs seen in connection with the fifth
seal and including those slain during the Great Tribulation.
“many waters and great thunder”, —"Divinely sweet and yet divine¬
ly terrible." (See Chaps. 1.15 and 6.1.)
Ver. 3. “they sing”, —i. e.. the harp-singers, of course, as above.
“as it were”, —i. e., what sounded like.
643
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"a new song ",—“New in that it has reference to the faithfulness of
God and the Lamb whereby believers, on the ground of redemption
through Christ, are preserved amid the enticements and persecutions of the
antichristian power and brought to victory and eternal glory." (Dus.)
"no man could learn the song ",—Not merely "understand" (D.
Ew.), but appreciate and join in. (Dus.) The 144,000 could thus learn
the song because they alone have the experience of that which is celebrated
in the song, namely "matters of trial and triumph, of deep joy and
heavenly purity of heart". (A.)
“purchased out of the earth ",—Thus even angels could not learn
the song.
Ver. 4. “that were not defiled with women ",—Alford says, "The
past tense shows that their course is ended and looked back on as a thing
of the past, and so serves to refute all interpretations which regard them
as representing saints while in the midst of their earthly conflict and trial.'
So Dusterdieck says, "The subject pertains to the past earthly life of those
who have died." So also the first clause of verse 5.
“they are virgins* ,—Three explanations of this epression have been
given:
1. Kept themselves in entire abstinence from all sexual intercourse,
i. e., celibacy. (A. Be. Aug. Dus. Jer. And. Nea. Sim. Weid.
Rothe.) Matt. 19.12 and I Cor. 7 do prove, as Simcox says, on
any fair interpretation that a devout celibacy gives special means
for serving God. This interpretation, however, seems incon¬
sistent with Heb. 13.4. and furthermore we can hardly conceive
of John attributing this special blessedness to 144,000 unmar¬
ried gentlemen. Barnes calls attention to the fact that the word
"defile" applies only to that which is unlawful and cannot there¬
fore be applied to the marriage relation wherein intercourse is
lawful and proper. Dusterdieck says that even in the Old Testa¬
ment sexual union itself even in wedlock was defiling. (Deut.
15.18.) In a sense this is so, and yet a blessing indeed is
attached in the Old Testament to marriage and the bearing of
children.
2. Kept themselves from all fornication as we understand it, i. e..
illegitimate intercourse. (D. B. Ei. Bar. Hen.) This meaning
Barnes thinks is determined by the word “defiled’’. especially as
used with the words “with women* . Stuart says that to take
it in this sense would be a singular eulogy because the context
says nothing at all of impurity which is the opposite and therefore
there is nothing here to make it emphatic.
3. Kept themselves pure in a religious sense, i. e., spiritually, free
especially from idolatry. (L. F. V. St. Ze. Gab. Vic. Wol. Coc.
Gro. Glas. Gebh.) Stuart thinks that a comparison with verse 8
makes this meaning certain. He says the expression is a symbol
of purity and not of sex, and therefore in any case the reference
need not apply exclusively to men.
We find ourselves inclining to this last and figurative view as involv
ing less embarrassment than either of the others.
644
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“follow the Lamb ”,—The tense is present; not therefore on earth
even unto death, etc.; (V. D. B. Eb. Ew. St. L. Gro. Coc. Wol. Hen. Wor.
Glas.), but in Millennial glory, having the privilege of a special nearness
to Him. (A. F. Zu. And. Aug. Dus. Weid. Stern.)
“In the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne
of His glory (Matt. 19.28), they shall be the constant retinue of the
Lamb." (Weid.)
“were purchased from among men to be the first fruit s",—All the
redeemed are so purchased and purchased as the firstfruits of creation
(James 1.18), but these are evidently the firstfruits from among the pur¬
chased themselves. (A. B. F. L. Ew. Dus. Sim. Bar. Weid.) To those
who say this 144,000 represents all of God's people (D. Hen. Gla. Crav.)
I nnge rightly replies that as Chap. 7 made a distinction between the
144,000 there and the innumerable throng, so here a special selection is
likewise intended. There is a sense in which all true believers constitut¬
ing the Church are first-fruits (Rom. 8.23; Jas. 1.18; I Cor. 15.20-22)
and the consequent general ingathering of Israel and the nations is the
harvest.
Ver. 5. “no lie ",—i. e., no falsehood. There may be a certain
contrast to the sphere of falsehood in which the false prophet and wor¬
shippers of the beast move, but it is better to take the word in its general
sense (Dus.), and not to limit it to idolatry (B. Gro.), nor to the denial
of Christ (Hen.). They lived their earthly life in utter truthfulness.
Alford and Lange rightly say that the vision of this chapter has not
a backward reference to Chap. 13, but a forward reference to the mystic
Babylon and to the consummation of punishment and reward.
Elliott, with strange persistence, contends that the primary emblem
of the Lamb with the 144,000 on Mount Zion depicted generally Christ’s
policy or government of the faithful all through the reign of the beast,
characterized as it proved to be with severe Papal persecutions. The
singing of the “new song" by the harp-singers he conceives to prefigure
some happy crisis in the earthly fortunes of Christ’s saints and faithful
ones, and this crisis he would have us believe was the glorious Reformation.
The “new song“ he refers to the blessed doctrine and central truth of the
Reformation, viz., Christ our righteousness, and during the days of general
decline in spirituality throughout the Church, following close on after
the death of Luther and Melancthon, none but those illumined and
quickened and sealed by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, the faithful, who
followed the Lamb whithersoever He went, even unto death, the spiritual
virgins who were “without blemish ", in short, the 144,000 could sing it.
The angel with the eternal gospel prefigures the missionary era which
directly followed.
6 And I saw another angel flying in
mid heaven, having ’eternal good tidings
to proclaim unto them that J dwell on
the earth, and unto every nation and
tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he
‘Or, at! eternal gosfel
-Or. sit
Vers. 6,7. The Angel WITH THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL.
Ver. 6. Fausset thinks that as the former portion of this chapter
saith with a great voice. Fear God. and
give him glory; for the hour of his
judgment is come: and worship him
that made the heaven and the earth and
sea and fountains of waters.
645
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
related to the Israelitish world, so here begins the portion relating to the
Gentile world.
“another angel”, —i. e., besides those already mentioned, with no
particular reference to any other one angel or to the angels of the heavenly
choir, as Stuart thinks. It may be interesting to note that the old Pro¬
testant expositors referred this angel to Luther and the other two to
WiclifFe and Huss.
“eternal good tidings”, —The article is wanting here just as in Rom.
1.1. It is preached not to the heathen merely (Eb.) but to all the
dwellers on the earth.
The special content of this angel's message is shown by the next
verse to be the second coming of Christ and the hour of His judgment
(Ew. Zu. Dus. Gro. Hen.), but the Gospel here mentioned is, as all the
older expositors have taken it, the Gospel in its universal sense, the Gospel
of salvation in Christ (A. L. Eb. Lue. Gebh.) and is not to be confined,
as Fausset confines it, to the Gospel of the kingdom about to be set up
on this earth, the Millennial kingdom. It is eternal as declaring the eternal
truth of God; eternal as to its contents, its origin and its effects.
The preaching of the Gospel as here mentioned is to have its fulfill¬
ment in the future, and has, as Gaebelein says, nothing to do with the
preaching of the Gospel during this present time. Its reference lies in
the latter times, during the days of the Great Tribulation, whether we
think of the Tribulation as before or after the Rapture. Gaebelein says
the preaching is done by the faithful remnant of the Jews.
Scofield comments upon the preaching of the Gospel as follows,
namely;
(a) That the Gospel was seemingly first preached as the Gospel
of the Kingdom; it was so proclaimed by John the Baptist
and continued by Jesus and His Disciples until the Jewish
rejection of the King. This Gospel will doubtless be empha¬
sized again in the last days. It is the good news that God
purposes to set up His kingdom on earth in fulfillment of the
Davidic covenant.
(b) That upon the rejection of the King by the Jews came the
preaching of the Gospel of Grace, as it is being preached today,
the good news that Christ died on the cross for the sins of
the world.
(c) That the Gospel mentioned here in verse 6, the “eternal good
tidings”, the “everlasting Gospel", is to be preached to the
earth-dwellers at the very end of the Great Tribulation and
immediately preceding the judgment of the nations, which he
thinks is set forth in Matt. 25.31.
Ver. 7. “the hour of His judgment is come”, —The time of the
end is close at hand, the time for the destruction of the Antichrist. This
is not perhaps the general judgment but that upon the beast and his
followers.
“worship Him”, —i. e., turn from idols and the worship of the beast
to serve the true and living God.
€46
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
8 And another, a second angel, fol¬
lowed, saying. Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the great, that hath made all the nations
to drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.
Ver. 8. The Judgment of Babylon Announced.
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great", —The name of the Old Testa¬
ment God-opposed, secular power, proud, haughty, insolent, oppressive.
The Preterists understand this Babylon to be Pagan Rome; the Historical
interpreters refer it chiefly to Papal Rome; the Futurists refer it of course
to the chief city of the antichristian world-power of the last days,—the
capital of Antichrist; some maintaining it to be the Rome of the future,
while others refer it to Jerusalem as ruled over during that time by the
Antichrist. At any rate Babylon is here the type of the world-power
which persecutes the Church of God. (See Chaps. 17 and 18.)
“wrath", —i. e., God's wrath. There is, as Simcox says, a blending
of two ideas; the wine of Babylon’s fornication of which she made all
nations to drink, and the wine of God's wrath of which she and her
followers are made to drink. The latter is the retribution for the former.
The whole is from Jer. 51.7,8. (A. D. F. Dus.)
“fornication", —i. e. f idolatry.
9 And another angel, a third, fol¬
lowed them, saying with a great voice,
If any man ‘worshipped! the beast and
his image, and receiveth a mark on his
forehead, or upon his hand, 10 he also
shall drink of the wine of the wrath
of God, which is ‘prepared unmixed in
the cup of his anger; and he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in
the presence of the holy angels, and in
’See marginal note on Chap. 13.12
a Gr. mingled
the presence of the Lamb: 11 and the
smoke of their torment goeth up ‘for
ever and ever; and they have no rest day
and night, they that Worship the beast
and his image, and whoso receiveth the
mark of his name. 12 Here is the
‘patience of the saints, they that keep
the commandments of God, and the
faith of Jesus.
a Gr. unto ages of ages
*Or, stedfastness
Vcrs. 9-12. The Judgment of the Beast-Worshippers An
NOUNCED.
"The most dreadful of all threatenings contained in the whole of
Scripture/’ says Bengel.
Ver. 10. “he also", —i. e., as well as Babylon (Ew. Dus. Weid.),
or, as well as having drunk the wine of Babylon’s fornication (L. A.
Hen.).
“unmixed", —The meaning is without doubt that this wine is not
to be tempered with water. There is no element of grace or hope or
compassion blended with the judgment. (L. F. A. D. Eb. St. Ew. Dus.
Hen. Bar. Will. Weid.)
“tormented", —i. e., in hell proper, Gehenna.
“with fire and brimstone", —A figurative expression referring doubt¬
less to the pangs of remorse and conscience. (V. St. Gro. Bar. Crav.)
“in presence of the holy angels", —Not "according to the judgment
of" (D.), but as stated, "before the eyes of" (Luke 16.23). (A. Dus.
Sim.) Dusterdieck notes that an aggravation of their punishment is
647
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
signified by the fact that the holy angels and the despised and persecuted
Lamb are spectators of it. The words indicate only that the angels and
the Lamb acquiesce in the justice and necessity of God’s awful judgments.
Ver. 11. The eternity of the punishment is here explicitly set forth.
(St. Den. Bar. Weid. Will.)
Ver. 12. A digression of the Seer, as in Chap. 13.10.
“here”, —i. e., “in the inference to be drawn from the certainty of
this everlasting torment is the ground for the patient endurance of the
saints.” (A. Dus. Hen.)
1 3 And I heard a voice from heaven
saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who
die *in the Lord from henceforth: yea.
’Or, in the Lord. From henceforth, yea,
saith the Sfirit.
Ver. 13. The Blessedness of the Holy Who Die Henceforth.
“a voice from heaven”, —It is not said whose voice and it is useless
to speculate. Alford thinks, however, the word “write” points somewhat
to the angel of Chap. 1.1. Hengstenberg says it is the voice of one of the
elders or of a departed saint. Lange with some propriety says it is the
Spirit mentioned in the next clause, and that two distinct voices are not
to be thought of.
"from henceforth”, —Some connect this word with “blessed”, while
others connect it with “die”,
1. The reference is not to the dying henceforth, i. e., to those who
die during the terrible persecutions which are soon to follow, but
to the blessedness henceforth of all who die in the Lord, because
full and complete blessedness of the holy dead is just about to
begin, (A. F. D. Dus. Hen.)
2. Not that all who die in the Lord are not blessed, but that those
who so die during the coming persecutions were to be peculiarly
blessed. (Zu. Bar. Gab. Coc. Ham. Sim. Gla. Weid.)
The order of the words seems somewhat to favor the second view;
although the supporters of the first view escape the force of this argument
somewhat by declaring that the word “blessed” is thrown forward to the
front of the sentence for emphasis sake. That in which the blessedness
consists will be helpful in deciding the matter. At any rate “die in the
Lord” must not be taken as referring to martyrs (Zu. Coc. Ham.), for
to this alone it cannot assuredly refer. In what therefore does this blessed¬
ness consist? This seems to be explained by the rest of the verse.
“that ”,—Introducing the ground of the blessedness, i. e., "in that”.
“their labors ”,—i. e., work, toil, persecution, etc.
“their works follow with them”, —Not simply in blessed memory, as
Alford says, but there is evidently here a reference to the reward which is
theirs for their works. (D. L. Gro. Weid.)
The blessedness therefore seems to consist especially in their being
relieved from the awful sufferings and persecutions of those last troublous
times (Sim.), although their reward in glory whence their works follow
them is not by any means to be overlooked in the estimate. This blessed¬
ness together with the position of the word “henceforth” and the fact that
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labors: for their works follow with
them.
648
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the present tense of the verb “die" points rather to death at the time under
consideration than to those who have died in the Lord in past ages, would
all seem to favor the explanation which attaches " henceforth" to the verb
“die". All who die in the Lord are blessed in that they are delivered
from the miseries of this wretched world, but this will be especially true
of those who so die in the awful times which John says are about to come.
One thing is certain, namely, that those who die in the Lord in chose
days, whether by martyrdom or otherwise, cannot be any more blessed
in glory than those who have so died in the Lord during all ages. The
blessedness must either consist in the fact mentioned above or the first view
mentioned above must be accepted, namely, that which attached “hence¬
forth" to “blessed", and the blessedness made to consist in the fact that
the interval is so short before 'the perfect consummation and bliss” of
all who have died in the Lord.
“Yea, saith the Spirit", —The Holy Spirit’s ratification to what has
been said.
Fausset says the voice mentioned first in the verse is the voice of God,
while here it is the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in the Word and
in the saints. (Chap. 22.17; II Cor. 5.5; I Pet. 4.14.)
Lange maintains that the voice in each instance is the voice of the
Holy Spirit Himself in the Church triumphant. Alford and Dusterdieck
say it is the first voice still speaking, giving the Holy Spirit’s ratification.
There can be no doubt, however, that the voice in the second instance
is the voice of the Holy Spirit by whom John was inspired and by whose
command John recorded what was written, the Holy Spirit who spake
within John himself. (L. F. St. Hen. Bar. Dodd.)
14 And I saw, and behold, a white
cloud; and on the cloud / sau; one sit¬
ting like unto a son of man, having on
his head a golden crown, and in his
hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another
angel came out from the ‘temple, crying
with a great voice to him that sat on
the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and
reap: for the hour to reap is come; for
the harvest of the earth is a ripe. 16
And he that sat on the cloud cast his
sickle upon the earth; and the earth was
reaped.
1 7 And another angel came out from
the ’temple which is in heaven, he also
having a sharp sickle. 1 8 And another
'Or, sanetuary
J C»r. become dry
angel came out from the altar, he that
hath power over fire; and he called with
a great voice to him that had the sharp
sickle, saying. Send forth thy sharp
sickle, and gather the clusters of the
vine of the earth; for her grapes are
fully ripe. 19 And the angel cast his
sickle into the earth, and gathered the
3 vintage of the earth, and cast it into
the winepress, the great winepress, of the
wrath of God. 20 And the winepress
was trodden without the city, and there
came out blood from the winepress, even
unto the bridles of the horses, as far as
a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
3 C.r. vine
Vers. 14-20. Christ's Parousia and the Vision of Armageddon.
Ver. 14. “one like unto a son of man", —Not an angel in the like¬
ness of Christ, or representing Christ (V. D. B. Zu. Gro.), which is a
makeshift to avoid bringing Christ and his Parousia in at this juncture,
and springing from a desire to interpret the whole series of visions con¬
tinuously, as fulfilled in chronological order. But as Chap. 11.7 is anti¬
cipatory of the same events as Chap. 13, and Chap. 12 is retrospective,
looking back to events earlier probably than any others indicated in the
649
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
book, so this may be anticipatory of what is more fully described later,
as for instance in Chap. 20. The reference is to Christ Himself. (A. F.
L. Ew. Eb. Ei. St. Be. Ca. Vol. Hen. Dus. Pet. Gab. Bar. Weid. Moor.)
The “son of man", “white cloud", “crown", the parallelism of Dan. 7.13
and Matt. 26.64, the harmonious contrast between the three following
angels and the three preceding ones, all argue this expression as referring
to Christ.
“golden crown" ,—Implying that the time for His triumphant vic¬
tory has come.
“a sharp sickle", —A symbol of beginning judgment and implying
that the time for harvest has come, the earth being ripe for judgment.
Ver. 15. "ouf of the temple", —i. e., as immediately sent from God
with a message to His Son, and so not improper to present the following
command to Christ, as Dusterdieck objects.
“send forth thy sickle", —A remembrance of Christ's own words
(Mark 4.29). (See also Joel 4.13.)
Ver. 16. “and the earth was reaped", —What reaping is this and
what is the difference between this reaping and the one that follows, in¬
asmuch as it would be pointless to have the two images worked success¬
ively out if they meant exactly the same thing?
There can be little if any doubt, as Simcox says, that this first reaping
refers to the gathering of the elect. (A. F. B. L. Bar. Weid. Moor.)
Says Wordsworth, "It is the manifestation of God's love in the gath¬
ering of the good wheat into the heavenly barn." (Matt. 13.30,39.)
"Christ," says Weidner, "does not do this reaping directly, but in¬
directly, sending forth His angels to do it. (Matt. 24.31; Mk. 13.27.)"
Bengel says, "By means of the harvest a great multitude of the right¬
eous, and by means of the vintage a great multitude of the ungodly are
removed from the earth."
Says Moorehead, "I Thess. 4.13-18 is another account of this
majestic scene, the gathering of God’s people into His everlasting kingdom
by resurrection and translation. This does not occur before the Great
Tribulation, but it does occur before the wrath of God is poured out."
It is the true harvesting of earth’s harvest fruit for God. (L.)
Fausset says, "By the harvest-reaping the elect righteous are gathered
out; by the vintage the antichristion offenders are removed out of the earth,
the scene of Christ’s coming kingdom." The fact that there seems to be
two reapings, and that the former seems to be over before the latter begins,
favors the thought that the reapings refer to two different classes; and
the fact that Christ appears in the first and only an angel in the second,
and especially that there is a casting into the wine-press of God's wrath
in the second case and not in the first favors the thought that the second
reaping is of the wicked and the first is of the righteous, the elect. (A. F.
Eb. Gla.) Still there are some who refer the whole of the two reapings
to the harvest of the wicked. (St. Gab. Pet.)
Stuart says, "What is here begun is consummated in the sequel."
Petingill says that the whole passage refers to the gathering out of
the tares and that Chap. 1 5 shows us the wheat garnered into the barn.
650
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
This is more in keeping with the reference in Matt. 13, "gather up first
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat
into my barn. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are
angels".
We are inclined to the view which sees in the reaping of this verse,
the harvest of the righteous and in the following verses the harvest of
the wicked.
Ver. 18. "out from the altar", —The same altar of incense beneath
which the souls of the martyrs lie crying for vengeance. (Chaps. 6.9; 8.3;
16.7.)
"power over fire", —i. e., that on the altar, and so perhaps the same
angel as in Chap. 8.3-5.
Ver. 19. What the winepress is for the common cluster, that is the
wrath of God for these.
Ver. 20. This verse, as Weidner says, describes the terrific nature of
the punishment that shall overtake the enemies of Christ at the time of
His coming to destroy the Antichrist. (Chap. 19.11-21.) "The battle
of Armageddon comes now into view for the first time." (Gab.)
"without the city", —i. e., in the country or field. What city? It
is of course the city of the Beast, doubtless Jerusalem (A. F. Bar. Dus.
Sim. Gab. Weid. Moor.), although not a few authorities prefer to think
of Rome. It is the slaughter of the wicked that is here spoken of and not
their eternal punishment. (B. F. Weid.)
"bridle s of the horses",—Some think the reference is to the horses
of the avenging armies of heaven (St. Hen.), but the expression is meant
perhaps as a mere measure, as Simcox says,—that any horseman riding
there would find his horse bridle-deep in blood. Some have conceived of
the blood as having been merely splashed as high up as the bridles of the
horses. The idea in any case is that an exceedingly great slaughter is
predicted.
"a thousand and six hundred furlongs", —A square number merely
denoting completeness and universality; four times four hundred, or four
times four times one hundred, or forty times forty. With four, the
world number, as the basis the 1 600 is thus built up.
Four times four hundred, denoting the four quarters of the earth
and the four regions of heaven, as a designation of great expanse. (Be.
Vic.) A great distance, or a wide extent is all that can well be supposed
to be meant. (A. St. Dus. Bar. Weid.)
Alford says it is either this or it is a riddle of the Apocalypse to which
not even an approximate solution has ever yet been given. Some suggest
that 1600 is derived from the square of four, the world number, multiplied
by the square of ten, which is the sign of completeness, thus indicating
that no created being can escape the judgment of God.
Other interpretations are:
1. Forty (the number of punishment) times forty as the symbol of
terrible punishment. (Eb.)
2. The river in the valley of Jehosaphat to be discolored with blood
for 1600 furlongs. (B.)
651
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
3. Symbolical of terrible punishment extending beyond the present
age into future ages, a state of misery to which the eye can see
no limit. (L.)
4. The length of the Holy Land (160 Roman miles,—140 English
miles). (B. Ei. Ew. Zu. Pet.-Hei.)
5. The breadth of Italy, Rome being the city referred to. (St.)
Barnes rightly says it merely denotes that the slaughter would be
great and that we cannot tell why 1600 is chosen, nor need we inquire.
Says Wordsworth, “The casting of grapes into a winepress and the
act of treading them under the feet, so that the juice flows out of them
in purple streams, is emblematic in Scripture of the destruction of enemies
in battle with great carnage; so when the day of grace is passed, and the
season of the world’s vintage is come, will He tread all His enemies under
His feet with the same ease as the treader of grapes in a winepress tramples
the ripe, luscious fruit.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1 And I saw another sign in heaven,
great and marvellous, seven angels hav¬
ing seven plagues, which ace the last,
for in them is finished the wrath of
God.
2 And I saw as it were a ‘sea of glass
mingled with fire; and them that come
off victorious from the beast, and from
his image, and from the number of his
name, standing 2 by the ‘sea of glass,
having harps of God. 3 And they sing
the song of Moses the Servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb, saying.
Great and marvellous are thy
works, O Lord God, the Al¬
mighty; righteous and true are thy
ways thou King of the 4 ages.
4 Who shall not fear, O Lord, and
glorify thy name? for Thou only art
holy; for all the nations shall come
'Or, glassy sea
2 Or, upon
3 (»r. bondservant
*Many ancient authorities read nations. See
Jer. 10.7
and “worship before thee; for thy
righteous acts have been made mani¬
fest.
5 And after these things I saw, and
the 8 temple of the tabernacle of the testi¬
mony in heaven was opened: 6 and
there came out from the “temple the
seven angels that had the seven plagues,
arrayed ’with precious stone, pure and
bright, and girt about their breasts with
golden girdles. 7 And one of the four
living creatures gave unto the seven
angels seven golden bowls full of the
wrath of God, who liveth s for ever and
ever. 8 And the “temple was filled with
smoke from the glory of God. and
from his power; and none was able to
enter into the “temple, till the reven
plagues of the seven angels should be
finished.
"’See marginal note on Chap. 13.12
"Or, sanctuary
'Many ancient authorities read linen. See
Chap. 19.8
'Gr. unto the ages of the ages
Vers. 1-8. The Seven Last Plagues and the Bowls of God’s
Wrath.
A compendious description of the following vision extending to the
end of the sixteenth chapter, and referring to events that shall take place
on earth just before the coming of Christ to destroy the Antichrist.
Ver. 1. “great and marvelous \—Not only in that the seven angels
appear simultaneously, but also in their peculiar equipment, and perhaps
also in the terrible nature of the events signified by them.
“having seven plagues . . . the last ”,—The last because they introduce
the final and victorious coming of Christ, and because “in them is finished
the wrath of God”. How they have and hold these plagues is not known;
it belongs to the wonder of the vision.
652
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"finished the wrath of God", —Not that this is the final judgment
(Hen.), but only the consummation of His wrath in sending the plagues
on the earth, at the close of which He will come (Chap. 19.11), the
finishing of His wrath having reference to the beast, the consummation of
whose punishment is now about to take place. (A. L. F. Dus.)
Ver. 2. "as it were a sea of glass", —Not an actual sea, but some¬
thing appearing like one. It is the same sea as that of Chap. 4.6, the per¬
sonages being the same, the omission of the article not being a sufficient
reason (Eb.) for differentiating this sea from that of Chap. 4.6. (A. Dus.
Sim.)
"mingled with fire ",—“Added here, and not in Chap. 4.6, because
here it introduces an element belonging to this portion of the prophecy
of which judgment is the prevailing complexion." (A. Bar. Weid.)
"harps of God", —Such as serve only for the praise of God. (B. A.
L. Dus. Bar. Weid.) (See Chaps. 5.8 and 14.2.) Simcox calls attention
to the fact that the harpers here are not the same as those in Chap. 5.8
and not (probably) the same as those in Chap. 14.2, although Gaebelein
thinks those of Chap. 14.2 and here are identical.
"standing by the sea of glass", —“Upon" hardly harmonizes with
the scenery of Chap. 4.6 and is in itself somewhat unnatural, although a
sea of glass would be a solid support; or it might be they stand and walk
upon the sea like their Lord, sustained by faith. But "by the side of"
accords better with the children of Israel when they sang the song to which
allusion is made; and furthermore it is justified by a similar use of the
preposition in Chaps. 3.20 and 8.3. (L. A. Sim. Crav.)
This vision in Chap. 1 5 is given for the encouragement of those who
will have to pass through the Great Tribulation.
"mingled with fire", —This expression has caused many curious
interpretations, of which we are entitled to our choice or are privileged to
surmise another.
1. The mass of Gentile Christians inflamed with love to God. (Gro.)
2. The peace of the world (sea) and the operation of the Holy
Spirit in the world. (Coc.)
3. Grace will not be denied to penitents (the sea standing for bap¬
tism) in the midst of the flames of divine wrath. (Ca.)
4. The firm ground of truth (the sea upon which they stand)
illumined by the fire of divine righteousness. (V.)
5. Dusterdieck says that the sea of glass refers to the eternal fullness
of joy in God's presence with which the victors will be rewarded,
and that the fire refers, as Alford says, to judgment, and that
thereby is designated the unity of God’s saving grace and right¬
eous judgment.
Who are these that come victorious from the beast?
1. The martyred company worshipping in glory, the harpers of
Chap. 14.2-3. (Gab.)
2. The great multitude which no man could number, of Chap. 7.9.
(Pet.)
3. Both the martyrs of Chap. 14.2-3 and the great multitude of
Chap. 7.9. (D. L. Weid. Moor.)
653
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
4. Barnes and others of the Historical School of course refer them
to those who remain true in the midst of the papal persecutions of
the past ages.
Ver. 3. "Moses, the servant of God”, — (See Exodus 15 and also
14.31.)
"song of Moses and of the Lamb”, —Not two songs, one of the
saints of the Old Testament and the other of the New Testament saints
(And.), nor is any allusion made to the connection between prophecy
and the Gospel (Coc.). Nor is it the song of Moses applied to Christ
and the things of Christ (V. D. Eb. Ca. Gro. Hen.) ; neither can we say
it is a song composed at once by Moses and the Lamb (Ew. Dus.). It
is one song doubly designated. It betokens the unity of the Old Testa¬
ment and the New Testament Church, and is the celebration in one song
of the typical redemption of Moses at the Red Sea and the real redemption
by the Lamb. It is at the same time the song of Moses and of the Lamb,
the song being one and the same. It is the whole redemption as mediated
by Moses and the Lamb. (L. Ger. Sim. Weid.)
Fausset, "This is the new song mentioned in Chap. 14.3. The
singing victors are the 144,000 of Israel, the first fruits, and the general
harvest of the Gentiles."
Ver. 4. "all the natrons", etc., —Says Fausset, "The conversion of
the nations shall therefore be when Christ comes and not till then, and
the first moving cause will be Christ's manifested judgments preparing all
hearts for receiving Christ's mercy."
Milligan suggests that the worship of the nations referred to is one
of "awe, of trembling and of terror" (Phil. 2.10,11) , but Weidner, agree¬
ing with Fausset above, says it is better to refer it to the events occurring
after the coming of Christ and during the time of the Millennium.
"thy righteous acts have been made manifest”, —Both in the publi¬
cation of the Gospel and in the destruction of His enemies. Fausset says,
"The elect after their trials, especially those arising from the beast, shall
be taken up before the vials of wrath are poured on the beast and his
kingdom. The Lord coming with the clouds and in flaming fire, shall
first catch up His elect people and then shall destroy the enemy."
Ver. 5. "thy temple of the tabernacle of the testimony”, —The
temple (naos) is the "Holy Place" of the tabernacle (Chap. 11.1) (A. L.
Ew. Dus. Hen.), and not the "Holy of Holies" (Eb. St. Gro.), and it is
here mentioned in its quality of being the place of testimony (Hen.), which,
says Alford, "is peculiarly appropriate seeing that the witness and the cove¬
nant of God are about to receive their great fulfillment", reminding, as
Weidner says, "of judgment and of God's faithfulness in avenging His peo¬
ple." The tabernacle was called the "tabernacle of testimony” because it
was a testimony or witness of the presence of God among His people, i. e., it
served to keep up the remembrance of Him.
Ver. 6. "arrayed with precious stone”, —The reading of "linen"
instead of "stone” is accepted by A. L. Tich. Weiss. The manuscript
authority is about equally divided with perhaps a slight weight in favor of
"stone”. The word "linen" seems to suit the sense a little better and
better agrees with the two adjectives, which by some are taken as the
654
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
emblem of holiness (the common representation in regard to the heavenly
inhabitants,—Bar.) ; by some, as symbolical of the righteousness which
demands the judgment wrath about to be poured out; and by others as
a description of the angelic priestly attire.
If the word “stone'" be retained, it cannot be referred to Christ Him¬
self as the Corner Stone (I Peter 2.26), nor to “the various adornment of
virtues" (Be. And.), but it means that each angel wears a garment set with
a pure and brilliant gem or with many such gems. (Dus. Weid.) Later
expositors accept the reading “linen", but the considerations above noted,
together with the fact that “stone" is the more difficult reading, and there¬
fore the more likely to be the original, seem to favor the translation of
our text.
“golden girdles", —Another emblem of divine righteousness (Gab.)
Thus also was Christ girded (Chap. 1.13), and these angels were clothed
with authority and divine righteousness to act for Christ.
Ver. 7. “bowls", —This is a better word than “vials", the Greek
word designating that which is broad rather than deep, more like the
vessels used in the temple below.
"full of the wrath of God",—Filled with that which represents his
wrath, as it were with a poisonous mixture.
Ver. 8. “the temple was filled with smoke ",—
1. A sign of His divine majesty. (B. Dus. Weid.)
2. A sign of His unapproachableness in the manifestation of His
holiness. (L. Mil.)
3. A sign of the wrath of God. (B. Eb. Gro. And. Hen. Hei.)
4. A sign of the incomprehensibility of the divine judgments. (Lap.)
The first three views are each very proper and should perhaps be
combined.
“God cannot be approached at the moment when He is revealing
Himself in all the terrors of His indignation (Ex. 19.21)." (Mil.)
The whole description, says Weidner, “conveys an impression of the
awful sacredness of God’s presence."
“When God pours out His fury, it is fit that even those who stand
well with Him should withdraw for a little, and should restrain their
inquiring looks." (B.)
“from the glory," etc., —i. e., from His presence in which His glory
and His power were displayed..
“till the plagues should be finished", —When satisfaction has been
rendered His holy wrath, then access to Him shall be possible.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1 And I heard a great voice out of the
’temple saying to the seven angels, Go
ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the
wrath of God into the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out
his bowl into the earth; and "it became
1 Gt. sanctuary
*Or, there came
a noisome and grievous sore upon the
men that had the mark of the beast,
and that ’worshipped his image.
3 And the second poured out his bowl
into the sea; and ’it became blood as of
a dead man; and every ‘living soul died;
“See marginal note on Chap. 13 .\2
4 Gr. soul of life
655
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
wen the things that were in the sea.
4 And the third poured out his bowl
into the rivers and the fountains of the
waters; “and s it became blood. 5 And
l heard the angel of the waters saying,
Righteous art thou, who art and who
wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst
thus fl judge; 6 for they poured out the
blood of saints and prophets, and blood
hast thou given them to drink: they are
worthy. 7 And 1 heard the altar say¬
ing. Yea, O Lord God. the Almighty,
true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth poured out his
bowl upon the sun; and it was given
unto 7 it to scorch men with fire. 9 And
men were scorched with great heat: and
they blasphemed the name of God who
hath the power over these plagues: and
they repented not to give him glory.
10 And the fifth poured out his
bowl upon the throne of the beast; and
his kingdom was darkened; and they
gnawed their tongues for pain, 1 1 and
they blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores;
and they repented not of their works.
12 And the sixrh poured out bis bowl
upon the great river, the river Euphra¬
tes: and the water thereof was dried
up, that the way might be made ready
for the kings that come from the sun¬
rising. 13 And I saw coming out of
the mouth of the dragon, and out of
rhe mouth of the beast, and out of the
a Some anrieni authorities read and they
became
8 Or. judge. Because /hey . . . prophets,
thou hast given them blood also to drink
7 Or, him
mouth of the false prophet, three un¬
clean spirits, as it were frogs: 14 for
they are spirits of demons, working
signs; which go forth “unto the kings of
the whole “world, to gather them to¬
gether unto the war of the great day of
God, the Almighty. 15 (Behold, I
come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments,
lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame.) 16 And they gathered them
together into the place which is called
in Hebrew ,0 Har-Magedon.
17 And the seventh poured out his
bowl upon the air; and there came forth
a great voice out of the “temple, from
the throne, saying, It is done: 18 and
there were lightnings, and voices, and
thunders; and there was a great earth¬
quake, such as was not since 12 there were
men upon the earth, so great an earth¬
quake, so mighty. 19 And the great
city was divided into three parts, and
the cities of the ’“nations fell: and Baby¬
lon the great was remembered in the
sight of God, to give unto her the cup
of the wine of the fierceness of his
wrath. 20 And every island fled away,
and the mountains were not found. 21
And great hail, every stone about the
weight of a talent, cometh down out
of heaven upon men: and men blas¬
phemed God because of the plague of
the hail; for the plague thereof is ex¬
ceeding great.
8 Or, upon
9 Gr. inhabited earth
10 Or, Ar-Magedon
1, Or, sanctuary
I5 Some ancient authorities read there was a
man
,3 Or, Gentiles
Vers. 1-21. The Judgment of the Seven Bowls of God's Wrath.
The pouring out of these bowls all occurs during the blowing of
the Seventh Trumpet.
The Historical School of interpretation construes these bowls as pre¬
figuring events which are of course already past; Elliott, for instance,
referring them to the French Revolution.
Alford here joins with the Futurist School of interpretation and
referring to the last words of Chap. 15.1, “seven plagues which ate the
last, for in them is finished the wrath of God”, he says, "There can then
be no doubt here, not only that the series reaches on to the time of the
end, but that the whole of it is to be placed very close to the same time.
It belongs by its very conditions to the time of the end."
The Futurists, of course, place all these occurrences in the times of
the Great Tribulation at the close of this dispensation.
Blunt says, "They appear to represent those human woes and con¬
vulsions of nature to which our Lord referred when in Matt. 24.29 and
Luke 21.11. He speaks of the signs that will precede His Second Coming."
656
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“God now begins/' says Weidner, “in a direct way to bring to an
end the Great Tribulation through which His faithful ones are passing
by visiting judgment upon the followers of the Antichrist."
Ver. 1 . “a great voice out of the temple ”, —According to Chap.
15.8, the voice of God. (A. B. L. F. Zu. Dus. Hen. Weid.)
The First Bowl.
Ver. 2. “went and poured”, —Each angel as his turn comes leaves
the heavenly scene and from the space between heaven and earth pours his
bowl out upon the appointed object. (See Exodus 9.9.)
“noisome and grievous”, —A more general expression for “bad and
evil”. As usual the Allegorical and Historical interpretations of this plague
have been of infinite variety. Elliott, with many other interpreters (Faber,
Keith Galloway, Cuninghame), explains it to prefigure “that tremendous
outbreak of social and moral evil, of democratic fury, atheism and vice,
which was speedily seen to characterize the French Revolution."
While some take the sores literally, others (Gab.) interpret sym¬
bolically of the breaking out of the internal corruption of the world in
its vile and apostate condition.
The Second Bowl.
Ver. 3. “as of a dead man” ,—Not the idea of a great pool of blood
as of many slain (D. Ei. Hen.) but Ioathesome and corrupting blood
clotted and putrefying as when a dead man lies in his own blood. (A. B.
Zu. Dus.)
Elliott interprets this bowl as a judgment that would fall on and
destroy the maritime power, commerce and colonies of the countries of
Papal Christendom; that is, of France, Spain and Portugal, these being
the only Papal kingdoms to which such maritime colonies and power
attached. And the fulfillment of the prophecy, he says, stands conspicu¬
ous in the history of the wars that arose out of the French Revolution.
Perhaps most commentators interpret all these vial judgments sym¬
bolically, making the sea in this instance represent the nations in restless
state and this vial as designating the moral and spiritual death among
the nations. The future alone can decide the question, but the close
resemblance to the Egyptian plagues suggests that the fulfillment may be
a literal one.
The Third Bowl.
Ver. 4. “and it became blood”, —It does not say “they became",
i. e., the waters, although some ancient authorities so read. The reading
may be, however, as in the margin, “there came", which reading is also
proper in connection with the first two vials. The singular, however, “it
became”, can be retained and, in harmony with the analogy of Chap. 8.11
and the first two vials, it seems best to think of the rivers and the fountains
becoming blood. The rivers and fountains may be taken together and
be regarded as neuter, and so the singular “it” be used.
Ver. 5. “the angel of the waters” ,—Not the angel who emptied
the bowl into the waters. (Eb. Gro. Weid.) A definite angel is meant
657
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
who is placed over the streams as his special sphere. (D. A. F. Ew. Zu.
And. Lap. Hen.)
,4 ivho art and who wast”, —The “who is to come" is absent here as
in Chap. 11.17 because the coming is already in process of fulfillment.
“thus judge’, —Literally, “judge such things"; the “such things”
being the equivalent of “thus” and referring to verse 4, as seen by verse 6.
where the blood of these rivers is referred to as their drinking water.
Ver. 6. “they are worthy”, —i. e., have merited this judgment and
they have to taste the vileness and the bitterness of their apostacy.
Ver. 7. “I heard the altar saying”, —The simplest way of under¬
standing these words is that they represent a personification of the altar.
(A. F. D. Dus. Weid.) The altar speaks just as the blood of Abel is
said to cry, and the stones of Jerusalem are said to cry out. Many exped¬
ients are resorted to to avoid this explanation. Some supply a personality,
“another angel of" (Zu. Lut.) ; “the angel who guards the spirits of the
martyrs" (Gro.) ; “an inhabitant of heaven standing by the divine altar"
(Ew.). Others resort to allegory: “The inner affection of the saints,
angels, or men who by teaching rule the people." (Be.) “The angelic
powers as bearers of our prayers." (And.) None of these explanations
are deserving of serious attention.
Elliott explains this bowl of a judgment of war and bloodshed that
would begin to be poured out on the countries watered by the Rhine and
the Danube and on the sub-Alpine provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy,
all of which, he says, was fulfilled during the French Revolutionary wars.
The Fourth Bowl.
Ver. 8. “given unto it”, —Not to the angel (B. El. Ew. Hen.), but
to the sun (A. F. D. L. Dus.). So far as the grammar goes it could be
either “unto it” or “unto him", but the sense of the passage refers it to
the sun, while the gender testifies as strongly for the one as for the other.
While some take the sun literally, Gaebelein prefers the symbolical mean¬
ing, the government ruling them, i. e., the Roman empire.
“to scorch men with fire”, —The fire of the sun and not some other
fire, as it is taken by some (B. Hen.), who refer “if if as given unto it” to
the angel.
“men",—This is perhaps to be taken generically simply as referring
to men, although because of the definite article “the” it is possible to find
reference here, as does Fausset, to the particular men who had the mark
of the Beast.
This bowl Elliott interprets of the darkening, partially or entirely,
either of the power of the German emperor, who might be considered as
most properly the sun in the symbolic firmament of Papal Christendom,
or perhaps of the sovereigns of those Papal kingdoms, more in general,
all of which was accomplished in the wars of the French Revolution.
The Fifth Bowl.
Ver. 10. “ the throne of the beast”, —The throne given to it by the
Dragon (Chap. 13.2). The throne of the beast refers here to the spot,
the place where the power and presence of the beast had its proper resi¬
dence. The actual center of his entire kingdom is here meant. The lands
658
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
over which he ruled were covered with darkness as in the ninth Egyptian
plague. (Exodus 10.21-23.) Says Moorehead, "Judicial blindness smites
his kingdom; madness and defiance rule."
“his kingdom”, —The kingdom of the beast considered according to
its geographical extent (A. Dus.), those lands which owned his rule.
“was darkened”, —Occasioned not by an injury to the sun but by a
special miraculous act. (A. D. Dus.)
“they”, —i. e., the inhabitants, the worshippers of the beast.
“gnawed their tongues for pain”, —Not because of the darkness so
much, as this is no cause for pain; but because, as verse 11 shows, of the
plagues poured upon them by the preceding bowls, although the darkness
makes them all the more unbearable.
Ver. 11. This verse shows that the first three plagues are still con¬
tinuing: the sores are still in force. It shows that the bowls are cumulative
and not successive.
Elliott interprets the throne of the beast as the Papal seat of Rome,
the judgment consisting in the abolition of the Pope's temporal authority
over the Roman state accompanied by insults and injuries heaped by the
French on the Papal power from almost the very commencement of the
French Revolution, the Pope himself being torn from his throne and
carried a prisoner into France, where he died in exile in 1799.
The Sixth Bowl.
Ver. 12. “for the kings that come from the sun-rising”, —The
interpretation of these kings from the sun-rising is various indeed. The
view of Ebrard, that they are the four angels of Chap. 9.4, and that of
Ewald, that they are the Parthian allies federated with Nero going against
Rome need merely to be mentioned to be set aside.
Wordsworth says that the prediction is not necessarily a literal one,
but that what is signified is that the Roman empire must be attacked,
divided and weakened by enemies, and that this is most significantly ex¬
pressed here by adverting to the only enemies, Parthia and her allies, who,
when this book was written, were able to make any impression upon that
empire. But this view has no more in its favor than many other such
which have been advanced in the interest of the Synchrono-Historical
interpretation.
Elliott of the Consecutive Historical School explains the Euphrates
as the Turkish power, the same as that prefigured under the Sixth Trumpet
as "loosed from the Euphrates", which power, having overflown its
Euphratean banks over Grecian Christendom, is here, as a symbolic river-
flood, represented as being dried up, the process starting by internal revolt
and insurrection in the Turkish empire in 1820, as the next great event
after the out-pouring of the fifth bowl on the throne of the Beast. Elliott
then calls attention to the fact that the Turkish power has been the greatest
bulwark to the Mohammedan religion, and that Mohammedanism has
been the most formidable obstruction to the Christianization of the Eastern
world, and he therefore asserts, somewhat gratuitously it would seem, that
what is here intended by the coming of the kings of the east is their con¬
version, the coming of eastern princes and peoples into the Christian faith.
659
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
But Alford rightly says that “to suppose the conversion of the
Eastern nations or the gathering together of Christian princes to be meant,
or to regard the words as referring to any auspicious event, is to introduce
a totally incongruous feature into the series of bowls which confessedly
represents judgment, the seven last plagues."
By others the expression has been taken of the restoration of the Jews
to their own land. (Me. Br. New. Cun. Burgh.) But Alford’s objection
weighs equally strong against this. Besides the Jews are not represented
in Scripture to be so concentrated in eastern countries at the close of their
dispersion, and furthermore they are not represented at this time as
“kings", but as “a nation scattered and peeled and trodden down".
The remarks of Alford, given above, bear equally against the view
which makes these kings to be Jews adopting the Christian faith; or the
Babylonian Jews going to the aid of the Palestinian Jews, and it weighs
especially against the view of Fausset who, following the ancient inter¬
pretation of Primasius, says these kings are primarily the transfigured saints
coming with the King of kings, at His Second Coming, these saints being
kings and priests, as set forth in Chap. 1.6. Fausset of course, in harmony
with his interpretation, takes the drying up of the Euphrates in a figurative
or symbolic sense, it being the mystical river of the antichristian Babylon,
and its drying up the diminution of that Babylon’s power for opposition
to the truth.
We are inclined to think that the only understanding of the words
under consideration which will suit the context or the requirements of this
series of prophecies is that the kings of the whole earth are to be gathered
in battle against God and the Lamb, and the way is thus prepared for
those coming from the east. (A. D. Bl. Ew. Dus. And. Gab. Pet. Sco.
Weid.)
The circumstance has its basis no doubt in the dividing of the waters
of the Red Sea for the passage of the children of Israel.
From the rising of the sun, the land beyond the Euphrates, conquer¬
ing hordes were wont to come from the earliest times down upon lower
Asia and especially upon Canaan. This affair must, in keeping w.th the
other bowls, represent a judgment upon the ungodly. These kings of the
east are doubtless a part of the " kings of the whole earth " (verse 14) and
are instruments of the dragon and the beast who go up to war, not against
Babylon (the apostate Church) but against believers. The plague of the
sixth vial does not lie in the fact that these kings of the sun-rising come
(L.), but that they assemble at Armageddon for their own destruction.
On account of the saying that the river Euphrates was dried up, some
(D. Eb. Hof. Bru.) maintain that a battle of the eastern kings against
the spiritual Babylon is intended. But Hengstenberg says well, “that the
expedition is directed not against spiritual Babylon, that is, Rome, but
against Canaan, that is, the Church, is rendered manifest by verse 16.
and as well by verse 14, and by the fact that all the other vials bear
an oecumenical character, and sweep over all the earth, the whole of the
God-opposing wickedness, and not merely some particular phase of it.
“The Euphrates", says Hengstenberg, “is mentioned here merely in respect
to the hindrance it presented to the march of the ungodly power of the
world into the Holy Land, against the Holy City; against the Church."
66 0
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
The drying up of the river Euphrates may be taken of course sym¬
bolically of any barriers whatsoever which may have held back the kings
of the east, the removal of which is symbolized by the drying up of the
river. On the other hand it may quite as well be taken in an altogether
literal sense. (A. Sim. Pet. Gab. Dus. Weid.) Dusterdieck, whose inter¬
pretation in the main we believe to be correct, contends that these kings
from the sun-rising refer proleptically to the ten kings of Chap. 17.12
who give their power to the beast, and that in Chap. 1 7 will be found
the details of their defeat. This is, however, perhaps more than we are
warranted in drawing from the text.
Vers. 13-16. These verses contain without doubt a parenthetical
vision.
Ver. 13. " the false prophet”, —The second beast of Chap. 13.11.
”unclean” ,—Designating also the demoniacal nature of these spirits.
“as it were frogs”, —The form in which the spirits appeared. The
likeness is to be explained from the uncleanness, offensiveness and per¬
tinacious noise of the frogs. The representation may rest upon I Kings
22 . 20 - 22 .
Here again all sorts of interpretations too numerous to mention are
given by the Allegorical and Historical Schools, such as, “three forms
of divination in which Maxentius trusted" (Gro.) ; the sophists, Faber,
Eck and Emser (Lut.) ; the Jesuits, Capuchins, and Calvinists (Ca.)
Elliott interprets these spirits as the spirit of infidelity proceeding
from the mouth of the Dragon, the Devil; of popery proceeding from the
mouth of the Beast, the Papal Antichrist; of priestcraft proceeding from
the mouth of the False Prophet, the apostate Papal priesthood; all of
which manifested themselves throughout France and England and other
lands with great intensity beginning about the year 1830, and are still
operating in the world today.
Ver. 14. Here we find the definition of these spirits, " spirits of
demons”, and here it would seem the limits of interpretation are clearly
set. Weidner says, "We must insist that these spirits are just as real as
the dragon and his two beasts from whose mouths the spirits actually
proceed."
"working signs”, —Lange says these are "lying, apparent miracles".
But it is the word always used for miracles in John’s Gospel. As the false
prophet used miracles to seduce men to the worship of the beast, so do
these spirits in order to gather the kings together for the great battle.
"the kings of the whole earth”, —The rulers of the inhabitants of
the earth worshipping the beast.
" unto the war”, —The final conflict for the kingship of the world.
This gathering is the signal for Christ’s coming as set forth in II Thess.
1.7,8.
"the great day of God, the Almighty”, —Explained in detail in
Chap. 19. It is evidently, as Craven says, the day of Christ's appearing
to establish His Millennial kingdom, and not the future final-end judg¬
ment (B. D. L. Dus.) ; nor yet is it hardly to be taken with Hengstenberg
in a comprehensive way, denoting all the phases of God's judgments.
661
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“This great gathering of the beast and of the kings of the earth
against God and the Lamb, is," says Alford, “the signal for the immediate
and glorious appearing of the Lord. And therefore follows in the next
verse an exhortation to be ready and clad in garments of righteousness
when He comes."
Even this, some of the Historical interpreters refer to the devastation
of Rome. (Ei. Ew.)
Ver. 15. '7 come as a thief ”,—The Lord Himself speaks. John
apparently hears, and writes down as he hears, the words of Christ spoken
in the midst of his vision. (F. L. Sim. Mil. Sei. Hen. Weid.) Others say
it is the Seer speaking in the name of Christ. (A. D. Dus.)
”keepeth his garments ”,—The figure of a man keeping watch in his
clothes in apprehension of the coming thief. In a spiritual sense the gar¬
ments are the robes of righteousness put on by faith in Christ, the destitu¬
tion of which will cause the shame spoken of in that day.
Ver. 16. “And they gathered”, —i. e., the three unclean spirits. (A.
F. D. Bl. Dus. Sim. Weid.)
If the English version “he" is retained, the reference would be to
God (L. Eb. Hen. Gab.), and not to the angel of the Sixth Bowl (B.),
nor to the Dragon (Ew.).
" them”, —i. e., the kings just mentioned and their armies.
“ Har-Magedon”, —“Har" means hill, mountain. “Magedo" means
slaughter. Magedo is the name of the place where occurred the overthrow
of the Canaanite kings by God’s miraculous interposition under Deborah
and Barak. (Judges 5.19.) Here also Josiah was defeated and slain. (II
Kings 23.29.)
Gebhart uses this last reference, viz., that as once in Magedo the
Theocracy was borne to its grave in the defeat of Joshua, so in Har-
Magedon the Lord will avenge the crime of the heathen. The point of
comparison, however, is rather with the first reference, namely, the defeat
of God’s enemies, the Canaanites. (A. B. Eb. Dus. Kli. Weid.)
Ar-Magedon means City of Magedon, or City of Slaughter; Har-
Megedon means Hill of Magedon, or Hill of Slaughter. There is some
reason for believing that, whether the one or the other word is used, it
should not be regarded as the name of any one particular place, but that it
rather gives the special characteristic of this final world-conflict. In fact
we read in the Hebrew of “the waters of Megedo" (Jud. 5.19) and of
“the valley of Megedo" (Zech. 12.11), but nowhere in the Hebrew Bible
do we read of “the hill of Megedo" or of “the city of Megedo". The
Megedo of Palestine is not a mountain, not even a hill, nor is it a city.
In the neighborhood of Megedo (Megiddo), as Thompson, in his “The
Land and the Book" tells us, there is “only a little hillock or heap of
sand", while in the common parlance of the Arabs and Syrians today the
Megedo of Palestine is the very antithesis to a hill. It is a plain, and the
Palestinian might therefore the more likely be the great ancient plain of
Esdraelon, the great world’s battleground of all past ages.
In keeping with the interpretation which makes the word descriptive
of a characteristic (great slaughter) rather than a definite place, there are
those who think the last world war just closed was indeed the very battle
662
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
of Har-Magedon, and that therefore, as John Robertson says, “The Second
Advent of our Lord is now by Prophetical schedule due, and may at the
next tick of the watch in your pocket be seen in the sky."
“It is evident," says Weidner, “that we must distinguish between the
battle of Har-Magedon and the Day of Judgment; for in Zech. 14.4,5
the mount of Olives, and in Joel 3.12 the valley of Jehosaphat, is repre¬
sented as the scene of that great event."
The Seventh Bowl.
Ver. 17. “upon the air ”,—Perhaps as the abode of the powers of
darkness, Satan being the prince of the powers of the air.
“a great voice”, —i. e., of God. (A. Sim. Wor. Dus. Weid.)
“It is done ”,—That is, the end has come, the time for the overthrow
of the Antichrist. The Lord has come!
Some (B. D. Dus. Hen.) say that was done which was commanded
in verse 1. But it is better to explain as above and take the expression in a
proleptical sense, importing that the outpouring of the seventh vial had
done that which should accomplish all and bring in the end. “It is," says
Alford, “as if one who had fired a train should so speak even though
the explosion had not yet occurred." (L. F. Sim. Weid.)
Ver. 18. Here we have the same signs as in Chap. 11.9, though
extremely heightened. Verse 21 shows that verses 18-21 do not conclude
the effects of the Seventh Bowl, but rather begin them, which effects do
not cease until the overthrow of Babylon and the destruction of the great
antichristian forces.
Ver. 19. “And the great city ”,—
1. Papal Rome. (A. El. Bar.)
2. Heathen Rome, the great heathen metropolis. (D. Ew. Al. Bl. St.
Vol. Dus.)
3. Jerusalem, which at that time will be antichristian and the seat of
the Antichrist. (B. Eb. Zu. Mil. And. Lap. Sim. Her. Hof. Weid.
Stern.) (See Chap. 11.8.)
4. An ideal city embracing all anti-christianity, of which at that time
heathen Rome was the highest representative point. (E. L.)
Views 2 and 4 are quite the same in essence, Fausset declaring that
the reference is to spiritual Babylon (heathen Rome), the capital and seat
of the apostate Church.
It is, after all, a matter of conjecture as to which city is intended. In
favor of view 3, is the fact that it would be pointless to suppose Babylon
to be mentioned twice in this one verse, while taken the other way there
is a climax. The identical expression, ”the great city”, is used of Jerusalem
in Chap. 11.8. It must not be overlooked, however, that Babylon is even
more often called “the great".
The objection to view 3 by Hengstenberg that the judgment of the
vials is upon the heathen worldly power as opposed to God has no weight
in view of the fact that if the interpretation of Jerusalem is here accepted,
it must refer of course to Jerusalem as at that time under the power of the
Antichrist. Dusterdieck argues in favor of view 2 that it follows from
663
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the connection of Chap. 13 as well as from the context here; but the
strength of his argument is not apparent. One cannot afford in a case
like this to be arbitrary in his choice of expositions, but to us the inference
seems to favor taking “the great city” as Jerusalem.
“divided”, —i. e., split by the earthquake.
“into three parts”, — (See Zech. 14.4,5). The meaning is doubtless
that the city was broken up and overthrown, sustaining a very large and
severe damage. It seems that the number “three” is here taken in a sym¬
bolical sense, as Stuart says, and that the reference is to the fact that the
city was reduced to a ruinous state. Stuart, however, admits that the
meaning may be that chasms in the earth divided the city into three parts.
“cities of the nations fell”, —Other great cities in league with the
antichristian forces also fell from the violence of the earthquake.
“Babylon the great”, —The reference here is doubtless to spiritual
Babylon, that is, heathen Rome, whose fate is referred to by way of antici¬
pation. (See Chap. 14.8.)
Some make “Babylon the great” and “the great city” one and the
same, referring both to Jerusalem (Mil.) or both to heathen Rome, but
as already noted it would seem best to distinguish them.
“remembered in the sight of God”, —All the plagues were but pre¬
paratory, the divine intent being in the midst of them, to make Babylon
drink the cup of His wrath in the judgment which is now to follow. (See
Acts 10.31 on the expression, and Psa. 10.13 on the thing designated.)
“fierceness”, —The boiling-over outburst.
Ver. 20. (See Chap. 6.14.) Islands and mountains disappear, but
earth remains. The case is different in Chap. 20.11, says Burger. Heng-
stenberg says the islands and mountains are indicative of kingdoms, and
this may be true, but there is no strong reason for not taking the expression
literally, as the result of earthquakes frequently is an effect of this kind.
Ver. 21. “the weight of a talent”, —Fifty-seven pounds Attic, or
ninety-six pounds Hebrew; sixty times heavier than ever known before.
Says Ebrard, "We are assuredly not to imagine that actual, natural
hail is meant." Thus also Barnes and Stuart and many others who think
it only a frightful image to denote the terrible and certain destruction that
is to come upon Babylon, symbolizing the tremendous blows of suffering
and sorrow which the antichristian world sustains in this time of revolu¬
tion. There is, however, no incontrovertible reason for not taking the
hailstones in a literal sense. (F. Pet. Gab. Sim. Weid.)
“and men blasphemed God” ,—i. e., those not being struck by the
hail, the others being killed. A different issue than in Chap. 11.13.
The destruction of Babylon alluded to is described in the following
chapters.
Elliott here joins, as it were, the Futurists and interprets this Seventh
Bowl as symbolizing events yet future, although he gives to the entire
passage a figurative meaning. The “air” he explains to be the European
political and moral atmosphere just as he explains the Apocalyptic firma¬
ment elsewhere to mean the political firmament, and the result of the
pouring out of the Seventh Bowl is to be a convulsion, vitiation, and
darkening of the moral and political atmosphere of Western Europe. The
664
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
thunders, lightnings and voices indicate, he says, the wars and tumults
which are to follow, while the hailstorm, he seems to think, indicates
that France, the most northerly of the Papal kingdoms, is to become at
least one of the chief operators or instruments of the plague, inasmuch
as he thinks a judgment from the North is indicated. Other expositors,
comparing this prophecy with the one in Ezekiel 38 and 39, prefer to
explain the hailstorm of Russia, inasmuch as the prophecy in Ezekiel
seems to point to Russia's taking part in the pre-millennial conflict. This
last view, Elliott says, "is also not improbable."
Vitringa explains the hailstorm simply to indicate a judgment im¬
mediately from heaven, and refers to the hail which fell in the seventh
Egyptian plague, and also that which fell on the Canaanites, as described
in Josh. 10.1 L
Elliott also says, "It seems to me very possible that there may be here,
too, that which shall literally answer to the prediction. Compare the as yet
unfulfilled prophecy in Isa. 30.30. But the analogy of all the Apocalyptic
prefigurations requires primarily a symbolic explanation."
The dividing of the great city into three parts Elliott explains as
"the final breaking up of that decemregal form of the Papal empire, which
has now characterized it for nearly thirteen centuries, into a new and tri¬
part form."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1 And there came one of the seven
angels that had the seven bowls, and
spake with me, saying, Come hither, I
will show thee the judgment of the great
harlot that sitteth upon many waters;
2 with whom the kings of the earth
committed fornication, and they that
dwell in the earth were made drunken
with the wine of her fornication. 3
And he carried me away in the Spirit
into a wilderness: and I saw a woman
sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, 'full
of names of blasphemy, having seven
heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman
was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and
‘Or, names full of blasphemy
““decked with gold and precious stone
and pearls, having in her hand a golden
cup full of abominations, 3 even the
unclean things of her fornication, 5
and upon her forehead a name writ¬
ten, ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE
GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE
HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMI¬
NATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And
I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood
of the “martyrs of Jesus. And when
I saw her, I wondered with a great
wonder.
-Or. gilded
3 Or, and of the unclean things
4 Or, a mystery, Babylon the Great
8 Or, witnesses. See Chap. 2.13.
Vers. 1-6, The Mystery of the Scarlet Woman and the Beast.
The Divine View of "Babylon".
The Judgment of Babylon.
Twice before has the fall of Babylon been introduced by way of
anticipation (Chaps. 14.8 and 16.19.) but in this and the succeeding
chapter we are to have a detailed account of it. The time referred to is
that immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.
Ver. 1. "one of the seven angels ”,—Probably the one who poured
out the seventh vial, because it was during the outpouring of his vial that
reference is made to the fact that God remembered Babylon in the fierceness
665
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
of His wrath. We are not, however, told which angel it is and it is useless
to conjecture. It is the same angel who showed John, according to Chap.
21.9, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife.
"Come hither" ,—Barnes says, 4 ’The reference is not to local motion
but to a certain direction of the contemplation."
"/ will show thee the judgment", —A promise not immediately ful¬
filled in verse 3, nor indeed even in this chapter. The harlot is shown in
her antichristian form, but not until Chap. 18.1 does the judgment occur.
"the great harlot ",—This is explained in verse 18 as being a symbol
of "the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth". It is not
uncommon in Scripture to represent a city under the image of a woman.
"sitteth upon many waters", —This was literally true of the old
Babylon. Verse 13 shows that by "loafers" is here meant "peoples, and
multitudes, and nations and tongues" over which the city or government,
symbolized by the woman, ruled.
Who Is the Great Harlots
1. Babylon to be rebuilt on the Euphrates.
2. A great world-city of the last days, either, one to be built as the
seat of the antichristian government, or in an ideal sense, any and
all great cities that have directed persecution against the people of
God.
3. Jerusalem. (Zu. Her. Hartwig.)
4. Heathen Rome. (Dus. Hen. Sim.)
5. Papal Rome. (A. B. V. El. Ca. Gab. Bar. Coc. Glas.)
6. The apostate church of the future in general, Roman Catholic,
Greek Catholic and unfaithful Protestantism. (F. Au. Mil. Pet.
Hahn. Moor.)
The first three views are not to be seriously considered.
1. Literal Babylon on the banks of the Euphrates which is to be
the seat of government during the end of this age. This cannot
be, because:
(a) That city was not built on seven hills, but on the plains of
Shinar.
(b) Literal Babylon was never a part of the Roman empire, and
as the Babylon of the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters is
seen in closest identification with this empire and for a time
at least its center and capital, the Babylon in Asia is ruled
out at once.
The objection of Petingill that Babylon had long before John's time
ceased to "reign over the kings of the earth" is hardly relevant because
Isa. 13.20-22 seems to imply that it is to be rebuilt. But even so, the
two objections noted above outweigh any evidence that might be quoted
in Babylon's favor.
2. A great world-city of the last days. There are no arguments of
any strength adduced in favor of this view. Milligan gives four
arguments against the view, but they ate of little weight, express¬
ing themselves as they do from the standpoint of the School of
Spiritual Interpretation.
666
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
3. Jerusalem. This city is also built on seven hills, four large and
three small. But the fact that Jerusalem as well as Babylon is
called “the great city” (Chaps. 11.8 and 16.19) is not sufficient
ground for applying the reference here to that city.
As to which one of the other three views should be accepted will per¬
haps be the easier decided after the exposition of this chapter.
Ver. 2. The fornication here mentioned committed by the kings of
the earth as well as by all the nations is of course of a spiritual sort and
suggests that the harlot will seduce men from the worship of the true God
to worldliness and sin and to the worship of the beast.
Ver. 3. “carried me away in the Spirit”, —This expression is found
only here and at Chap. 21.10 where the vision of the New Jerusalem is
introduced. It denotes spiritual ecstacy and here refers to a change wrought
in the ecstatic direction of the spirit of the Seer, and not bodily removal.
“into a wilderness”, —Amidst all her pomp and luxury the place
where she reigns is really desolate. Many think in keeping with verse 1 6
that the harlot is to be seen in the wilderness because of the complete
desolation pending over her. (D. Ew. St. Dus. And. Lap. Hof. Hen. Ros.
Bar.) Hengstenberg confirms this conclusion by reference to the funda¬
mental passages of the Old Testament (Jer. 50 and 51 and Isa. 21.1).
He further says we are led to this conclusion by the contrast of the great
and high mountain in Chap. 21.10.
The desert place or wilderness Elliott explains as a reference to the
Campagna of Rome which is even now in an actual desolate state, a state
which began when first the ten-horned beast of western anti-Christendom
having emerged into existence, the harlot Church of Rome rose on its
back to supremacy, and has so continued ever since.
“a scarlet-colored beast”, —The same beast as in Chap. 13.1. (F.
A. L. St. Dus. Hen. Mil. Gab. Weid. Glas. Moor.), not only because of
the features they have in common, and that he is always afterwards men¬
tioned as the beast, but Chap. 19.19,20 clearly identifies them.
“scarlet colored”, —Not the color of a covering (D. Zu.), but of the
beast itself. It is a fiery red and is a sign of the blood shed by it. It
implies blood-guiltiness and deep-dyed sin.
“full of names of blasphemy”, —These were found before only on
the head of the beast, but now as ridden and guided by the harlot, over all
the beast tenfold more blasphemous in its titles and assumptions than ever.
“having seven heads and ten horns”, —As did the beast in Chap. 13.
(See verses 9 and 12 for the explanation of these heads and horns.)
Ver. 4. “purple and scarlet”, —Purple was the color of the imperial
robe placed on Christ (John 19.2) and here indicates royal sovereignty,
while the “scarlet” evidently refers to her being stained with the blood of
the saints. (St. Dus. Weid.)
Many Protestant commentators see in this verse a description of the
robes of the Roman popes and cardinals, and perhaps not altogether
unjustly, especially if in any sense the harlot can refer to Papal Rome. (A.
B. V. El. Gab.)
667
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Alford refers the words “scarlet” and “purple’’ to the same thing,
but while this is possible it is superfluous to designate by two emblems the
same thing.
“a golden cup full of abominations'’, etc .,—The language is prob¬
ably founded on Jer. 51.7. Not that the cup serves her to drink the blood
of saints and martyrs (verse 6), but the cup with which she invites and
entices to drunkenness and uncleanness, the cup with which she seduces
and corrupts the nations.
Here the Allegorist has opportunity to give reign to his imagination,
as for instance, “hypocrisy" (Be.), i. e., the enticement of feigned truth;
“worldly happiness, the majesty of government" (Lap.); "Scripture dis¬
torted by wicked interpretation" (Coc.) ; "papal doctrine; the cup of the
Mass" (Ca.).
Elliott finds in it a reference to the indulgences, the worship of relics
and other sacrilegious impositions of the Romish Church, while in the
purple and scarlet dress and precious stones he finds a prefigurement of the
robes of the Romish dignitaries and the costly embellishment of their
chapels and churches.
About all we are warranted in reading from the text is that just as
she was arrayed in gold, etc., so is the cup golden but is full of abomina¬
tions, holding as it does the wine of her fornication.
“full of ",—This is first followed by a genitive (“abominations”)
and then by an accusative (“unclean things”). Many (A. Bl. Ew. Hen.)
make both depend upon “full of”. This gives a change of construction
which is most remarkable, but Hengstenberg says it is allowable to avoid
so many genitives inasmuch as another genitive follows; while Alford
says it is to mark a difference between the more abstract designation of the
contents of the cup as “abominations” and the specification of them in the
concrete as “unclean things”.
Others (L. Dus.) avoid all this by connecting the accusative “unclean
things” with the verb “holding” and saying it is a later interpretation of
the “abominations” . They regard it as parallel with “cup”. But this
would seem to put the unclean things in her hand and not in the cup.
Stuart more appropriately regards it as in apposition with “cup" and
as exegetical of its meaning.
Our text tries to adopt the idea of Dusterdieck and Lange by a pure
apposition, but this is most crude. Of the four views that of Alford and
the margin of our text appeal to us most strongly, although the difficulty
has to us no satisfactory solution.
Ver. 5. “a name written”, —As was customary with harlots.
“MYSTERY’’,— It is difficult to decide whether this word is to be
regarded as a part of the name, or as indicating the symbolical character of
the city. Many (A. Hen. Wor. Lil.) think it belongs to the name.
Lillie gives some five reasons for this view but they are hardly strong
enough to be convincing, and it is better with other authorities (St. Dus.
Bar. Sim. Mil. Weid.) to take it as indicating that what follows is to be
symbolically, mystically, spiritually understood.
According to some, the words following “Babylon the Great” are
not to be considered a part of the inscription, but an exclamation of the
668
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
author, inasmuch as Babylon would not thus openly and shamelessly wear
a frontlet proclaiming such a character. (St.)
"BABYLON THE GREAT”—(See Chaps. 14.8 and 16.9). The
chief city as the concrete representation of the whole antichristian empire
in the days of the Antichrist.
"MOTHER OF HARLOTS”, —She is the chief of these and the
cause of the rest being what they are. She made her own daughters, the
cities of the Gentiles, to be harlots, and gave them to drink of her own
cup of abominations, says Dusterdieck.
She was the mother of “that spiritual apostacy from God, which in
the language of the prophets is called adultery, and the promoter of
lewdness by her institutions." (Ba.)
Ver. 6. " drunken with the blood” ,—A reeling, intoxicated harlot.
“The phraseology," says Stuart, “is derived from the barbarous custom of
drinking the blood of enemies slain in the way of revenge.”
"saints and martyrs”, —There is no distinction in kind here. It is
by their testimony as saints that they become martyrs.
Here Elliott finds reference to the bloody persecutions which have
characterized the Romish Church more especially during certain periods
of her history.
"I wondered with great wonder”, —There are many explanations
advanced:
1. That such a woman could finally be the product of the historical
development of the Church of faith then existent. He wondered
at the degeneracy of the apostate Church. (L. Moor.)
2. Because of the change in the beast which he had seen in Chap.
13.1. (Eb.)
3. Because of the phenomenon of so powerful a beast being con¬
strained to carry the woman. (B.)
4. Because he recognized in the harlot the woman he had seen in the
wilderness in Chap. 12 and marveled at the contrast. (A. F. Au.)
5. Both the woman and the beast were each one a mystery, but it
is the complex mystery of the beast bearing the woman that caused
the wonder, and it was this that the angel explained in the follow¬
ing verses, (Dus. Crav.)
Dusterdieck calls the fourth explanation as just given an egregious
mistake because there is nothing in the text to occasion it; the mystery
must be the thing the angel explained, and of the relation of the harlot
to the woman of Chap. 12 not a word does the angel say.
Moorehead objects to this view on the ground that the woman of
Chap. 12 symbolizes Israel, the Messianic nation; and furthermore the
woman, as protected in the wilderness in chapter 12, whoever she may
symbolize, could hardly in so short a time become the vile and guilty
harlot of Chap. 17. This latter objection, of course, is made on the
ground that the wilderness experience of the first woman occurs but three
and one-half years before the content of the present vision is to be realized,
according to the Futurist view; but from the viewpoint of Alford and
others who hold this fourth explanation this objection of Moorehead’s
669
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
loses its force, because they think of the woman of Chap. 12 as the Chris
tian Church of Apostolic times.
The fifth view above is perhaps the right one.
7 And the angel said unto me.
Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will
tell thee the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast that carrieth her, which
hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and
is not; and is about to come up out
of the abyss, ‘and to go into perdition.
And they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder, they whose name hath not been
written 2 in the book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they be¬
hold the beast, how that he was, and is
not, and ’shall come. 9 Here is the
4 mind that hath wisdom. The seven
heads are seven mountains, on which the
woman sitteth: 10 and “they are seven
kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the
other is not yet come; and when he
cometh. he must continue a little while.
1 1 And the beast that was. and is not,
is himself also an eighth, and is of the
seven; and he goeth into perdition. 12
And the ten horns that thou sawest are
ten kings, who have received no king-
'Some ancient authorities read and he goeth
a Gr. on
a Gr. shall he -present
4 Or. meaning
^Or, there are
dom as yet; but they receive authority
as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
1 3 These have one mind, and they give
their power and authority unto the
beast. 14 These shall war against the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome
them, for he is Lord of lords, and King
of kings; and they also shall overcome
that are with him, called and chosen and
faithful. 15 And he saith unto me,
The waters which thou sawest, where
the harlot sitteth. are peoples, and mul¬
titudes. and nations, and tongues. 16
And the ten horns which thou sawest,
and the beast, these shall hate the har¬
lot, and shall make her desolate and
naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall
burn her utterly with fire. 17 For God
did put in their hearts to do his mind,
and to come to one mind, and to give
their kingdom unto the beast, until the
words of God should be accomplished.
18 And the woman whom thou sawest
is the great city, which ’reigneth over
the kings of the earth.
®Gr. hath a kingdom
Vers. 7-18. The Last Form of Gentile World-Power.
Ver. 8. "The beast . . . was, and is not; and is about to come",
etc ..—This expression occurring twice in this verse and also in verse 1 1
with slight variation identifies the beast in each of these instances as one
and the same. The explanation is found in verse 10.
"shall wonder", —i. e., in admiration, and shall worship him. (Chao.
13.3,4,8.) Fausset says, "They exult with wonder in seeing that the
beast which had seemed to have received its death-blow from Christianity,
is on the eve of reviving with greater power than ever on the ruins of thit
religion which had tormented them."
Ver. 9. " Here is the mind that hath wisdom", —See Chap. 13.18
and Dan. 12.10, where spiritual discernment is required in order to
understand the symbolical prophecy. Hengstenberg translates, "Here be¬
longs the understanding that hath wisdom," meaning that wisdom her?
has its right place, and intimating that a problem is presented here which
it is the province of the more profound spiritual insight to handle. . The
words seem to indicate, says Simcox, that the mind which hath wisdom
will recognize the meaning of the image, though it is obscurely expressed.
The reference is to wisdom enlightened from above. The words
bespeak attention and challenge spiritual discernment. (El.)
"The seven heads are seven mountains", —In the next verse these
same heads are said to be seven kings—seven mountains and seven kings—
670
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
and thus is presented a problem which it is utterly impossible to solve to
general satisfaction. The usual interpretation is that by these words the
city of Rome is pointed out. (A. D. El. St. Gab. Pet. Dus. Lee, Bar.
Sim. Moor.)
Others say that while the specific reference is or may be to Rome, it
has a wider reference to the various world empires which have arisen like
great mountains in the world’s history, the specific reference being doubt¬
less to Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the
empire which is to come. (F. Mil. Hen. Sad. Crav. Will. Gebh.)
There are four arguments of considerable weight in favor of this last
view:
1. It is unreasonable to literally interpret the seven heads first of
"mountains' and then of "kings '.
2. We are told in Chap. 13.3 that one of the heads was wounded
to death and such a description cannot apply to a literal mountain.
3. In the symbolic language of Scripture, Isa. 2.2; Dan. 2.35, and
especially of the Revelation, mountains signify kingdoms.
4. The explanation of "seven kings", or "kingdoms", the terms
being interchangeable in Scripture, seems to confirm the interpreta¬
tion adopted.
We would have then a double description of the same object, first
"mountains" and then "kings" . The thought of Rome may have been
present in the mind of John as one, perhaps even as the most important,
phase of a much wider truth.
But the text says plainly that the seven heads "are seven mountains
on which the woman sitteth”, and verse 18 says, "the woman is the great
city which reigneth over the kings of the earth". The seven heads of the
beast, then, as related to the woman, must apparently find their reference
in something that has primarily to do with the city of Rome. But these
heads are also related to the beast and in this respect they are said in the
next verse to be kings.
Ver. 10. "and they are seven kings", —There are three general
interpretations of this expression.
First. That which takes it as referring to actual kings.
Dusterdieck says that the entire force of the context demands this.
This results especially, he says, from the description in this verse, and
furthermore the entire sense of verse 11 depends upon this conception
inasmuch as the future eight kings are contemplated as the human-
personal manifestation of the whole beast.
There is considerable difference in the enumeration of these kings.
Of the schools of interpretation which place the fulfillment of the
prophecy in the past, some start the five with Caesar, make the sixth
(which is) Nero, and the seventh (which is to come) Galba (St. Wet.),
while others claim that Caesar was a Dictator and not an Emperor, and
start the five with Augustus, make the sixth (which is) Galba, and the
seventh (which is to come) Otho.
Dusterdieck, Simcox and others claim that with these enumerations
the rest of the prophecy receives nothing that can be considered even as a
typical fulfillment, and holding that Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, his
671
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
successor, were only usurpers reigning but a few weeks each, they begin
their enumeration of the five with Augustus, make the sixth (which is)
Vespasian, and the seventh (which is to come) Titus, who continued but
a short while, reigning only two and one-half years.
Lange says it is no more necessary to take these "kings” as so many
actual, literal kings than it is to take the beast as an actual, literal beast or
animal, while Alford says it misses the propriety of the symbolism and
introduces utter confusion.
Alford also calls attention to a fact in which there is considerable
force, namely that the word " fallen " refers to a violent fall, an overthrow
such as applies to the downfall of empires, and cannot refer to kings who
die in their beds. It is also difficult to reconcile this view with the facts
of the case, there being so much confusion introduced in the effort to name
the kings. Nor is it hardly probable that John would enter into the
minute details of the internal government of any heathen nation.
Second. That which takes the seven kings as so many forms of
government which the Roman empire would be under from its early origin
to its final destruction. (B. El. Ar. Os. Gab.)
The five which are fallen are Kings. Consuls, Dictators, Decemvirs,
and Military Tribunes. The sixth, or the one which is, is the imperial
form of government of John's day, commencing with Augustus Caesar.
As to this disposition of the first six forms of government, scholars
adopting this method of interpretation are practically unanimous.
The seventh, or the one which is to come and continue a short while,
is variously interpreted; the Dukedom of Rome (New.), the Christian
emperors from Constantine to Augustulus (Cun.), the Western Govern¬
ment after the division of the Roman empire into East and West (Me.).
But all of these views make the seventh head a Christian headship.
How then can the eighth head be of the seventh?
The seventh form of government Elliott conceives to be that ushered
in under Diocletian, and which received its death wound under Julian
through the Christian emperor Theodosius. The healing of the wound
and the living again of the beast in its eighth head Elliott conceives to be
the rising to prominence of the Papacy, as seen perhaps first in Pope
Gregory, whereby the Popes of Rome began to be a new head to the
empire, and this in the distinct character of Antichrist.
Among the Futurists we have the following from Gaebelein: "The
seventh, the one which is to come, is the revived Roman empire of the
future, the final form of Roman government. The eighth is the beast,
as the text distinctly says, and is the emperor of this revived Roman
empire, the 'little horn ' of Daniel’s prophecy."
Simcox says of this method of interpretation in general, "Consider¬
ing that the Dictatorship, the Decemvirate and even the Military Tribunes
were but transitory episodes in the Roman government—the first avowedly
exceptional, the second both exceptional and ephemeral, and all three, as
well as the primitive monarchy, probably unknown to John’s original
readers—this view does not appear even plausible." Other objections
have been registered against taking the expression as referring to forms
of government, but neither they nor Simcox’s are at all formidable.
672
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Third . That which takes the beast as the embodiment of the God-
opposed worldly imperial spirit, a general symbol of secular antichristian
power, and takes the “seven kings ' here mentioned as empires or king¬
doms. (A. K. L. Au. Eb. Hen. Mil. Hof. Lud. Weid.) Here again is
much division of opinion. The majority of commentators who follow
this method of interpretation are agreed that the five fallen are Egypt,
Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.
And all such commentators are agreed that the sixth, or the one that
is, is the imperial Rome of John’s day.
The seventh, or the one which is to come, presents the difficulty.
Some think of the Christian Roman empire beginning with Constantine,
during which time the beast (antichristian pagan imperial Rome) ceases
to be. (A. Mil. Sad. Will. Au.) Others think of the kingdoms, or world-
powers of modern Europe, which have taken the place of the Roman
empire, i. e., the present system of European governments. (K. Lud. Hof.
Hen. Lee. Weid.)
If the third method of interpretation be adopted (and to this we
are inclined), then either explanation of the seventh king or kingdom may
be appropriately taken.
Alford says, “As related to the beast these heads are kings; not kings
over the woman or the city she symbolizes, but kings in relation to the
beast of which they are the heads. Therefore to interpret these kings
as emperors of Rome, or the successive forms of government over Rome
(which, by the way, have never been made out) is to miss the propriety
of the symbolism altogether and to introduce utter confusion.”
The difficulty in Gaebelein’s interpretation is that he begins with a
form of government in which kings rule, then makes his seventh form
of government also a kingdom (the revived Roman empire), and then in
interpreting the beast himself as number eight (as the text does) he sud¬
denly refers the beast, not to a form of government, but to the “little
horn" of Daniel ruling over the revived Roman empire, the seventh form
of government. It is to be noticed that while the third method of inter¬
pretation makes the heads to be world-kingdoms and the second method
makes them different forms of government of the one Roman kingdom
they both unite in making the sixth head to be imperial Rome of John’s
day. At this point the difficulty begins. To make the revived Roman
empire (the beast himself, as Gaebelein admits and in fact contends) to
be the seventh head (which is to come) as Gaebelein does, is to find our¬
selves without an eighth, for the text plainly says the beast himself is the
eighth. Then, too, most certainly this revived Roman empire must be
the last form of antichristian imperial power, and to make the ' r little horn”
of Daniel, who plainly is to be the ruler over the empire represented by the
beast, to be the eighth head of a regime which must of necessity follow
the seventh is certainly not the most discriminating sort of interpretation.
In other words he seems to make the beast represent both the seventh and
the eighth head. It is for this reason we accept the third explanation as
given above.
“he must continue a little while", —Calls attention to the fact that
this expression does not refer to a short continuance, but rather means
“some little time”, it being duration and not nonduration which is being
stressed.
673
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Others think that the idea of brevity is made prominent, i. e., his
kingdom shall soon come to an end. (Dus.)
The decision here must be made to fit in with the view, or rather th?
result of the view, taken above of the " seven kings”.
Ver. 11. " And the beast that was , and is not , is himself also an
eighth”, —This is the beast named in verse 8.
Among those who interpret the ‘‘seven heads” as seven actual kings
is Simcox, who thinks that here the reference is to Nero, who is yet to
return from the dead as Antichrist. Nero killed himself A. D. 68— ‘‘was
and is not”, i. e., he had been and was not at the time of this vision, but
his reappearance was looked for by man.
This eighth beast, it would seem, is to be the eighth world-power
concentrating in itself, as Weidner says, all the rage and God-opposed spirit
of the seven preceding kingdoms, and is the last and worst manifestation
of the ungodly power of the world. Its king, he says, will doubtless be
the Antichrist, prefigured by the ‘‘little horn” of Daniel. (F. Sad. Weid.)
‘‘and is not ”,—This refers to the time during which it was “wounded
to death”, and has the “deadly wound” of Chap. 13.3.
Dusterdieck says, "This eighth king cannot be symbolized by a head
on the beast, because he is not one of their series and has a different position
from them." Thus the explanation of Hengstenberg and Klieforth who
maintain that in the seventh head the eighth is also found, cannot be
accepted; nor can that of Vitringa be accepted, who maintains that there
is a true head of the beast distinct from the seven and that this is the
eighth. No single head can fully represent it, says Milligan.
Elliott says the seventh head visible on the beast is in order of exist¬
ence its eighth, this eighth head having evidently sprouted up from the
seventh or preceding one cut down, this last having been "wounded to
death by a sword". But this “deadly wound was healed” by the sprout¬
ing up of an eighth in its place. It was a new seventh in place of the
old seventh; so that the last head visible on the beast, though visibly the
seventh , was in point of chronological succession the eighth. It was on
this new seventh head, or in other words, the eighth head that the ten
horns appear with the ten diadems on them.
“is of the seven ",—Not one of the seven, but out of them, i. e..
their result and succession. (A.) It is not therefore that "his fate is that
of the seven", i. e., he must fall, go to ruin (Hen. Gebh.) ; nor that he
is one of the seven, in the sense of Nero coming back (D. St. Ew. Vol.
Hil.), which is incompatible with the words of the text and unjustified in
a simple exegetical respect.
Fausset has well expressed what seems to be the right interpretation
of these words. He says, "The eighth is a new power or person proceed¬
ing out of the seven, and at the same time embodying all the god-opposed
features of the previous seven concentrated and consummated, the eight
being the embodiment of all the seven." He proceeds from the totality
of the seven, says Lange.
Milligan says, "The preposition ‘of’ is to be understood in its com¬
mon acceptance in John's writings, as denoting origin, identity of natur?;
as Primasius puts it, 'the beast is the essence, the concentrated expression
of the seven, the embodiment of their spirit’."
674
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“goeth into perdition 1 , —"He does not fall like the other seven, but
is destroyed by the Lord in person, going to his own perdition." (F. A.
Weid.) It means being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
Ver. 1 2. The angel now turns from the heads of the beast to the
horns.
"And the ten horns are ten kings', —i. e., kingdoms regarded as
summed up in their kings. (A. F. El. Bar. Hen. Mil. Sim. Gab. Weid.)
These ten kingdoms represent the ultimate kingdoms of this world which
will wage war against Christ. "These correspond", says Gaebelein, "to the
ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image and the ten horns of Daniel's fourth
beast."
Alford and Fausset say they are the ten European kingdoms which
are to grow out of the fourth great kingdom of Daniel 7.23, and "in the
precise number and form here indicated, they have not," says Alford,
"yet arisen, and what changes in Europe may bring them into the required
number and form is not for us to say." "They are not therefore," says
Fausset, "kingdoms that arose in the overthrow of Rome, but are to arise
out of the last state of the fourth kingdom under the eighth head."
Daniel says, "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the
earth (the Roman empire of John’s time) ; and as for the ten horns, out
of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise after them,
and he shall be diverse from the former and he shall put down three kings."
For the ten Romano-Gothic kingdoms extant A. D. 532 to which
Elliott refers the ten horns see page 672. Elliott calls attention to the fact
that while the number has varied slightly from time to time, now one less,
and now one or two ^nore, still the number ten will be found to have
been maintained from time to time as that of the Western Rome or Papal
kingdoms from the date mentioned on down to the present time. He also
calls attention to the fact that these Romano-Gothic kingdoms did in the
sixth century appropriate to themselves the Roman diademic badge of
sovereignty.
Many take the number “ten” symbolically as representing complete¬
ness, and referring to all the antichristian powers of the earth which wer:
to arise after the sixth head or Roman empire had been broken up. (Hen.
Mil.)
Others, like Simcox, who take the same view of the kingdoms, say
the number is exactly ten, but that we cannot as yet point them out
exactly. Fausset and Alford and those agreeing with their interpretation
also take the number as literally ten. It seems that there is no sufficient
reason why it should not be so taken.
“have received no kingdom as yet”, —i. e., in John’s time, for that
was still the period of the sixth kingdom. (Mil. Bar. Weid.)
“authority as kings”, —i. e., have the authority usually exercised by
kings. They will receive this authority about the time that Antichrist's
manifestation draws near.
“with the beast” .—It is implied that they reserve their kingly rights
in their alliance with the beast (F. A.) ; "with the aid or cooperation of
the beast" (St.). They depend upon the beast for their authority,
675
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
''exercise their authority in connection with the beast and under his influ¬
ence" (Bar.) ; "receive authority as associates and aids of the beast".
(Dus.)
Fausset says it implies that they will be contemporaneous with the
beast in its last or eighth form, although not until the latter part of his
reign does the Antichrist associate these ten kings wih him.
"one hour",—This is by all taken schematically or symbolically for
a brief while. "The end will be very near when the ten horns appear."
(Sim.) This, says Lange, is "the specific antichristian evening of the
world which preceded the Parousia." Except for some preconceived
opinion no one would ever think of taking these words otherwise than
here explained.
Fausset says, "It is a definite time of short duration, during which
the Devil is come down to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, having
great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. It is probably the
last three and one-half years." With Fausset agree all Futurists who
conceive the period in question to be that after the Rapture of the Church
has taken place, at which time the "war in heaven" occurred and Satan
was cast down.
Ver. 13. "one mind ",—i. e., view, interest, consent. They have
a common cause and a common theory and are united in one and the same
purpose.
Ver. 14. “war with the Lamb ",—i. e., in concert with the beast,
described in Chap. 19.19. This will not be, says Fausset, until after they
have executed judgment on the harlot, as set forth in verses 15 and 16.
"they that are ivith him ",—i. e., the saints who shall accompany
Him when He comes.
Ver. 15. (See Isa. 8.7 for a similar figure.) It is here, says Alford,
an infamous parody of Jehovah who sitteth upon the flood. (Psa. 29.1 0.)
The waters seem to signify the sum total of the inhabitants of the earth,
for the great city Babylon " shall reign over the kings of the earth”. (Dus
Weid.)
Ver. 16. " these shall hate the harlot”, —The harlot is ruined in a
manner least expected. The next verse shows that God is the moving
cause of this ruin, but the immediate occasion is not revealed; it is simply
stated that they shall hate the harlot and annihilate all her glory. This
verse is an anticipation of the theme of the next chapter.
"desolate and naked” ,—Her former lovers shall desert her and she
shall be stripped of her adornments.
“eat her flesh”, —A symbolic expression meaning to confiscate her
possessions.
"burn her with fire”, —The legal punishment of abominable forni¬
cation. Elliott very strangely conceives of the burning of the harlot by
the ten horns as referring to a state of existence previous to that pictured
in the chapter before us and explains it of the spoiling and burning of
imperial Rome by the ten Gothic powers in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Ver. 17. “to do his mind”, —i. e., to accomplish his purpose, whilst
they think only of doing their own purpose. The word “his” refers to
676
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
God (F. A. L. Hen. Vul. Weid.), and not to the beast (D. B. Dus. Lud.
Vol.).
“should be accomplished’’, —i. e., in the destruction of the harlot.
Ver. 18. Showing that the harlot, the great city and Babylon the
great are one.
Recurring now to the question of who the great harlot is, we must
come to some decision as between Heathen Rome, Papal Rome and the
Apostate Church, as set forth under verse 1 of this chapter.
First, Pagan Rome. (Dus. Hen.) But against it are the following
arguments:
(a) John would not have dared to so speak of Rome in either the
days of Nero or Domitian, as cherishing an antichristian thirst
for the blood of the saints. (L.)
(b) Pagan Rome was never turned upon and treated by any world-
powers as is set forth by verse 1 6.
(c) Chap. 18.2 describes a devastation such as never took place with
regard to Rome as a heathen city. (A. Sim.)
(d) Chap. 17.2 is unsuitable to Pagan Rome because she ruled all
the world and there were practically no independent kings for
her to commit fornication with. She ruled with crushing sway
rather than enticed with blandishments. (L. A. Sim.)
(e) Chap. 18.11,19 is unsuitable to Pagan Rome because she never
was a great commercial city, and she did not cease to purchase
even after her pagan condition came to an end. (Mil.)
(f) Chap. 18.19 is fatal to the Pagan Rome theory because Babylon
the great is to be in existence when the last plagues are poured
out.
(g) It is with great difficulty that Chap. 18.24 is applied to Pagan
Rome because it is hardly true in her case. The words of this
verse are apparently founded on Matt. 23.35.
(h) Simcox says this view supposes that the beast in its final form
is controlled by the metropolis of the Roman empire (Chap.
17.3), but this is so far from being the case that the Roman
pagan empire is fallen before the woman comes on the stage, it
having disappeared as completely as the other world-powers
that ruled before it.
Verses 9 (if the mountains are taken literally), 15, and 18 may seem
in a way to favor Pagan Rome, but the arguments against this view are
decidedly preponderant.
Second. Papal Rome. (A. El. Bar. Wor. Gab. Glas.) The old
Protestant view. Alford argues for this view from the fact that eighteen
times out of the twenty-one mentions of harlotry in the Bible, the reference
is to the Church or the apostate people of God; and Simcox says the three
exceptions may be more apparent than real. (See Isa. 1.21; Jer. 2.20;
3.1 ; Ezek. 16 and 23; Micah 1.7.)
Milligan argues also that the harlot is so distinctly contrasted with
the woman of Chap. 12 and with the bride of Chap. 21 that it seems
677
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
there is a much closer resemblance between them than that which exists
between a woman and a city.
Simcox objects with great fervor to the application of this image to
Papal Rome. He says John's first epistle Chap. 4.2,3 shows distinctly
that it cannot be her. The spirit of the theology of the Roman Catholic
Church is on the whole of God, and certainly is not the spirit of Anti¬
christ.
Third. The apostate Church of the future. (F. Pet. Sim. Hahn.
Moor.) Says Fausset, “It cannot be Pagan Rome, but if a particular seat
of error be meant it may find its reference in Papal Rome, but I incline to
think that the judgment of Chap. 18.2 and the spiritual fornication of
Chap. 18.3, though finding perhaps their culmination in Papal Rome, are
not to be restricted to it, but comprise the whole apostate Church, Roman.
Greek and even Protestant, so far as it has been seduced from its first love
to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and given its affections to worldly
pomp and idols.” In favor of this view are the following:
(a) All the arguments for Papal Rome given above apply with equal
and even greater force to the Apostate Church in general.
(b) Antichristianity rises only in corrupt Christianity, and any
other reference misapprehends this fact; though this argument,
while militating against the idea of Pagan Rome, applies with
equal force to Papal Rome.
(c) This view alone recognizes the broad scope of the eschatological
vision.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 After these things I saw another
angel coming down our of heaven, hav¬
ing great authority; and the earth was
lightened with his glory. 2 And he
cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen,
fallen is Babylon the great, and is be¬
come a habitation of demons, and a
‘hold of every unclean spirit, and a
‘hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For 2 by ‘the wine of the wrath of her
fornication all the nations are fallen;
and the kings of the earth committed
fornication with her, and the merchants
of the earth waxed rich by the power
of her ‘wantonness.
4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come forth, my people,
out of her. that ye have no fellowship
with her sins, and that ye receive not
3 Or, prison
J Some authorities read of the wine . . .
have drunk
3 Some authorities omit the wine of
‘Or, luxury
Vers. 1-8. God's People WARNED TO COME OUT OF BABYLON.
As in Chap. 14.8, so here in verses 1-3 we have a proleptic announce¬
ment of the destruction of Babylon as having already taken place.
“The chapter relates,” says Elliott, “to the probable progress of
events in the fast corning future
of her plagues: 5 for her sins ‘have
reached even unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities. 6 Render
unto her even as she rendered, and
double unto her the double according
to her works; in the cup which she
mingled, mingle unto her double. 7
How much soever she glorified herself,
and waxed ‘wanton, so much give her
of torment and mourning: for she saith
in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall in nowise see mourn¬
ing.
8 Therefore in one day shall her
plagues come, death, and mourning, and
famine: and she shall be utterly burned
with fire: for strong is T the Lord God
who judged her.
5 Or, clave together
a Or, luxurious
, Some ancient authorities omit the Lord
678
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Ver. 1. " another angel”, —This doubtless refers to another angel
besides the one who had just showed John the mystery of the woman and
the beast in Chap. 17 (St. Dus. Bar. Weid.), or, joining the words to the
following " coming down”, it may mean besides the one that last came
down(B.). It does not therefore mean Christ (Ca. Hen.), nor the Holy
Spirit (V. Coc.), and of course not Luther (Nicolai).
‘‘having great authority”, —i. e., possibly as the executor of the
judgment he announced (E. Weid.), although there is in the expression a
strong intimation that he was an angel of the higher rank or order. (St.
Bar. Weid.)
“the earth was lightened with his glory”, —The visible sign of his
great plentitude of power and authority just mentioned; the glory of the
Lord accompanied him.
Elliott thinks that this together with the fact that the angel cried
with a “mighty” voice, thus reaching throughout the whole earth, indicates
that just prior to the event prophesied "there will be a diffusion of great
religious light". Vitringa is of the same opinion, while Daubuz infers
that not only will the idolaters of the corrupt Church be enlightened and
converted by the fall of Babylon, but that this event will be followed by
a conversion more general. All this is, however, mere inference, and that
without the merest warrant.
Ver. 2. “he cried with a mighty voice”, —So that his message
resounds throughout the whole earth, as far as the dominion of the city
that has incurred the judgment extends. This is the only place where
the word “mighty” is used with “voice”, the usual word being "great".
Milligan thinks the thought is not that all men might hear the voice,
although this is true, but that it is to strike all with awe and terror.
“habitation of demons”, —The stately city shall be entirely desolate.
(Isa. 13.22; 34.14.)
“a hold ”,—A place of detention, a prison house. (A. F. St. Hen.
Sim.) It is a figurative description of entire desolation; beasts and birds
of prey dwelling in the deserted ruins and demons making their abode
there. So great will be the desolation of Babylon the Great after it has
been destroyed by the Antichrist and his allied kings. John uses the very
words of Isaiah in describing this destruction. (Isa. 21.9.)
Scofield says here, "Babylon, ‘confusion', is repeatedly used by the
prophets in a symbolic sense. Two ‘Babylons’ are to be distinguished in
the Revelation: ecclesiastical Babylon, which is apostate Christendom,
headed up under the Papacy; and political Babylon, which is the beast's
confederate empire, the last form of Gentile world-dominion. Ecclesias¬
tical Babylon is 'the great whore’ (Rev. 17.1), and is destroyed by politi¬
cal Babylon (Rev. 17.15-18), that the beast may be the only object of
worship (II Thess. 2.3,4; Rev. 13.15). The power of political Babylon
is destroyed by the return of the Lord in glory. The notion of a literal
Babylon to be rebuilt on the site of ancient Babylon is in conflict with
Isa. 13.18-22. But the language of Rev. 18 (e. g., verses 10, 16, 18)
seems beyond question to identify 'Babylon', the ‘city’ of luxury and
traffic, with 'Babylon' the ecclesiastical center, viz. Rome. The very kings
who hate ecclesiastical Babylon deplore the destruction of commercial
Babylon,"
679
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Vcr. 3. "For'\ etc., —The guilt of sin is here declared to be the
foundation of the judgment. (See Chap. 17.2.)
"by the power of her wantonness", —The word " wantonness”
means insolence, pride, revel, riot, luxury, and the thought is that of inso¬
lence and voluptuousness breaking out into boastful vauntings of pride
and dissolute revelry. “Wanton luxury” is really a good translation for it.
Of course the views here taken are colored by the general view of the
expositor.
Those referring Babylon to Pagan Rome (V. Dus. Gro. And. et al.)
explain the expression of the wantonness exercised with respect to the
vast resources of the state. It must be remembered, however, that the
outside kingdoms did not get rich off of Rome, but vice versa.
Fausset rightly says the reference is not to earthly merchandise, but
to spiritual wares, to indulgences, idolatries, superstitions, worldly com¬
promises wherewith the harlot, the apostate Church, has made merchan¬
dise out of men. He says it may and doubtless does apply to Rome papal,
but it applies to the Protestant Church as well, i. e., the whole apostate
Church.
Ver. 4. “another voice from heaven", —Not the voice of the Church
triumphant speaking to the Church of God on earth (L.) ; nor is it the
voice of God or Christ (B. Hen.), which would not accord with the length
or the descriptive tone of the lamentation, the discourse extending to verse
20; this together with the fact that from verse 9 the grievance of another
is presented is not appropriate for the mouth of God or Christ. It is
doubtless an angel speaking in the name of Christ.
“Come forth, my people, out of her", —Saints of God even to the
last are found mingling with the great city. (See Jer. 51.6,9,45, whence
the words are taken.)
“have no fellowship with her sins", —To thus have fellowship with
her sins means to incur the guilt of her sins, and hence the plagues, if
received, would be deserved. It would be impossible to remain in her
without guilt.
Sadler says, “This of course will not come as an audible voice from
heaven, but it will be a secret, yet universal intimation to all that are in
the mystical Babylon, that they are to leave her society and her fellow¬
ship.”
“The period,” says Williams, “of this command in the Apocalypse
appears to be on the great rising of the Antichrist above all; and on the
destruction apparently of the outward, visible frame and form of Chris¬
tianity, which is to precede the end.”
Ver. 5. “her sins ",—Not the cry of her sins (D.), but her sins
being heaped up, as it were, reach even unto heaven.
“The Babel-tower of sin is a tower which man builds in pride, and
when its top reaches to heaven, then it is suddenly thrown down.” (Wor.)
Ver. 6. The one speaking in God’s name now turns to those who
are to execute God’s wrath. Not to angels (St.), but rather to Antichrist
and his allied kings. (Mil. Weid.)
“double unto her the double", — (See Isa. 40.2 and Jer. 50.15,29).
680
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“in the cup’, —She is to receive a double portion of the wine of the
wrath of God. (See Chap. 14.8,10; 17.4.)
Ver. 7. Proud security transformed into deepest sorrow.
“queen”, — (See Isa. 47.7).
“no widow”, —i. e., because the world-power is my husband and
supporter. (See Chap. 17.5; Isa. 17.8.)
“shall in no wise see mourning”, —i. e., not know it by experience.
Ver. 8. “Therefore”, —i. e., on account of her pride, her luxury
and her boasting.
“in one day”, —i. e., in one great catastrophe, without succession
through a contracted period.
“death”, —That which makes her a widow.
“mourning”, —That which she said she would never experience.
“famine”, —This she is to have instead of luxury and abundance.
“and she shall be utterly burned with fire” ,—The punishment of a
fornicatress according to the Old Testament law. (Lev. 21.9, etc.; see
Chap. 17.16.) It is here the emblem of thorough destruction.
9 And the kings of the earth, who
committed fornication and lived 'wan¬
tonly with her, shall weep and wail
over her, when they look upon the
smoke of her burning, 10 standing afar
off for the fear of her torment, saying.
Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the
strong city! for in one hour is thy
judgment come. 1 1 And the merchants
of the earth weep and mourn over her.
for no man buyeth their J merchandise
anymore; 12 'merchandise of gold, and
silver, and precious stone and pearls, and
fine linen, and purple, and silk, and
scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every
vessel of ivory, and every vessel made
of most precious wood and of brass,
and iron, and marble; 13 and cinna¬
mon, and “spice, and incense, and oint¬
ment. and frankincense, and wine, and
oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle,
and sheep; and merchandise of horses
and chariots and ‘‘slaves; and “souls of
men. 14 And the fruits which thy soul
lusted after are gone from thee, and all
’Or, luxuriously
J Or, cargo
•Ylr. amomvm
*(»r. bodies. Gen. 36.6 (Sept.)
6 Or, lives
things that were dainty and sumptuous
are perished from thee, and men shall
find them no more at all. 1 5 The mer¬
chants of these things, who were made
rich by her, shall stand afar off for
the fear of her torment, weeping and
mourning; 16 saying, Woe, woe, the
great city, she that was arrayed in fine
linen and purple and scarlet, and “decked
with gold and precious stone and pearl!
17 for in one hour so great riches is
made desolate. And every shipmaster,
and every one that saileth any whither,
and mariners, and as many as 7 gain their
living by sea, stood afar off, 18 and
cried out as they looked upon the smoke
of her burning, saying. What city is like
the great city? 19 And they cast dust
on their heads, and cried, weeping and
mourning, saying. Woe, woe, the great
city, wherein all that had their ships in
the sea were made rich by reason of her
costliness! for in one hour she is made
desolate.
e Gr. gilded
^Gr. work the sea
Vers. 9-19. The EARTHLY LAMENTATION OVER THE DESOLATION OF
Babylon.
Ver. 9. At this point three distinct classes of persons are introduced
to us, uttering their lamentations over the fall of Babylon; kings, mer¬
chants and sailors, their lamentations being of a selfish nature of course.
“the kings of the earth ”,—-Who bore a more or less immediately
active part in her destruction.
681
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"weep and wail", —“The deed of the wicked," says Milligan, "even
when effecting the purposes of God, bring no joy to themselves."
"the smoke of her burning", —Dusterdieck adheres to an actual burn¬
ing and says that the kings, dreading the burning, stand at a distance
according to verse 10; whereas Alford contends that this verse is an actual
objection to the literal understanding of the prophecy in its details. "It
can hardly be imagined", he says, "that the kings should bodily stand
and look as described, seeing that no combination of events contemplated
in the prophecy has brought them together as yet."
Fausset of course refers the expression to a mystical burning of the
Apostate Church, as a figure of total and irretrievable desolation.
Barnes, who refers it to the fall of Papal Rome, must of course also
take it figuratively.
Elliott thinks that this destruction, which he refers to Rome, the
mystic Babylon, comprehending not the mere city of Rome, but at least
Papal Ecclesiastical Rome, is to be effected by the agency of an earthquake
and a volcanic fire the smoke of which it is said in Chap. 19.3, "goeth up
forever and ever". This, he says, could not well be if it was a mere
burning by human agency, and if by human agency, "whence all the terror
and standing afar off of the kings, merchants, and shipmasters", he asks.
Vitringa and Daubuz refer the catastrophe to the fire with which the
ten kings are represented in Chap. 1 7 as burning the harlot, but Elliott's
objections just registered, if valid, would apply equally here; and besides,
says Elliott, "how could the kings well have been her burners now, when
in fact they were her mourners?"
Ver. 10. "standing afar off for the fear ",—i. e., because of their
own fear. They seem to be afraid that the destruction might reach them.
(L. F. Dus. Sim. Weid.)
Fausset says, "God’s judgments inspire fear even in the worldly, but
it is of short duration, for the kings and great men soon attach themselves
to the beast in its last and worst shape, as open Antichrist, claiming all
that the harlot had claimed in blasphemous pretentions and more, and so
making up to them for the loss of the harlot."
"great city . . . strong city", —Making still more forcible the im¬
pression of its destruction.
Ver. II. The lament of the merchants. Many think that the
description in this verse and the following goes hard with the mystical or
spiritual interpretation and that it favors the literal one.
Alford, however, says the difficulty is not confined to its own inter¬
pretation, i. e., Papal Rome, but extends to Pagan Rome in the literal
sense, because Rome never was a commercial center, much less a market
for the things mentioned. Thus also Fausset.
Craven, who holds the view that by Babylon the city of Rome is
meant, says the difficulties suggested by Alford are imaginary rather than
real. He says that John doubtless had Rome in mind as symbolizing
the Apostate Church, and that the description does fit Rome of the time of
John. And what Rome was in the past, the center of all commerce by sea
and by land, it may again become in the future.
682
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Fausset, of course, says that all the merchandise is spiritual; Craven
says that to Rome actual and Rome symbolical the description of these
verses is applicable.
Alford frankly acknowledges that he must leave the difficulty un¬
solved. But Barnes, who holds the same view as Alford, seems perhaps
best to resolve the difficulty, and what he says as respects Papal Rome one
may as easily and as properly say of the Apostate Church in general. He
says, “It is not necessary to suppose that all this would be literally true or
characteristic of Papal Rome. All this is symbolical, designed to exhibit
the Papacy under the image of a great city, with what was customary in
such a city, or with what most naturally presented itself to the imagination
of John as found in such a city. The enumeration of the articles of mer¬
chandise seems to have been inserted for the purpose of following out
the representation of what is usually found in such a city, and to show
the desolation that would occur when the traffic was suspended. So in
regard to the traffic in slaves (verse 13), it is no more necessary to suppose
the Papacy would be engaged in the traffic of slaves than in the traffic of
cinnamon, or fine flour, or sheep or horses.”
Vers. 12,13. These, says Dusterdieck, give a view of the previous
necessities of the luxurious city.
Ver. 13. “slaves; and souls of men”, — (Ezek. 27.13) Dusterdieck
perhaps rightly remarks that the “souls of men” refer to slaves in general,
while the word “slaves” (literally, bodies) refer to slaves belonging to
the horses and chariots. (Thus also B. St. Ew. Hen. Sim. Weid.) By
some the word “slaves” is translated “grooms”. (St. Sim.) However,
Lange well says, that the second expression is indicative of an augmenta¬
tion, the extreme consequence of slave-holding.
Fausset says that apostate Christendom enslaves both body and soul,
and that the selling of indulgences is but a sample of the latter.
Weidner says, “Many commentators interpret the contents of verses
12 and 13 spiritually and refer these things to the Papacy, but Sadler cor¬
rectly remarks, ‘Not one of these commodities can be connected particularly
with any ecclesiastical state of things. It is impossible, as regards the greater
part of them, to interpret them spiritually'.”
Ver. 14. A direct address to the city, not perhaps by John himself
(St.), nor by the merchantmen in their lamentation (Weid.), nor perhaps
by the angel of verse 1, but the rather by the angel of verse 4. It breaks
the narrative which is resumed again in the next verse. It is a species
of composition which greatly heightens the energy of the discourse. Alford,
who seems to think of the merchantmen as speaking, says the passage need
not occasion any difficulty, as it takes up the weeping and mourning of
verse 11 as if the “their” had been “our”, which is not unnatural in
rhapsodical passages.
Ver. 15, “these things”, —Those mentioned in verses 12 and 13,
which have been summed up in verse 14 under things dainty and sump¬
tuous. (A. B. Dus.)
Ver. 19. “cast dust on their heads”, —A sign of their great mourn¬
ing.
683
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“costliness”, —i. e., treasures; the abstract being put for the concrete.
The writer, says Stuart, means to designate the splendor and magnificence
of building, furniture, dress, etc., which made a great demand for articles
imported by sea from foreign lands. The Babylon of the future will thus
become the source of great wealth to all sea-merchants on account of the
extravagance and luxury which mark her inhabitants.
20 Rejoice over her thou heaven, and
ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye proph¬
ets; for God hath judged your judgment
on her.
21 And 5 a strong angel took up a
stone as it were a great millstone and
cast it into the sea, saying. Thus with a
mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city,
be cast down, and shall be found no
more at all. 2 2 And the voice of harp¬
ers and minstrels and flute-players and
trumpeters shall be heard no more at
all in thee; and no craftsman. a of what-
’Gr. one
-Some ancienl authorities omit of whatsoever
i raft
Vers. 20-24.
soever craft, shall be found any more
at all in thee; and the voice of a mill
shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 and the light of a lamp shall shine
no more at all in thee; and the voice
of the bridegroom and of the bride shall
be heard no more at all in thee; for thy
merchants were the princes of the earth;
for with thy sorcery were all the na¬
tions deceived. 24 And in her was
found the blood of prophets and of
saints, and of all that have been slain
upon the earth.
The Heavenly Rejoicing over the Desolation of
Babylon.
Ver. 20. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven”, —We cannot tell whether
these words are John's (Zu.) f or those of the angel of verse 1, or those of
the voice of verse 4. The last reference is perhaps the better. (St. Sim.
Dus.)
“thou heaven”, —i. e., those who dwell in heaven.
“saints, apostles and prophets”, —These are regarded as being in
heaven. (L. A. St. Bar. Sim. Hen.) Hengstenberg says “saints” are the
genus of which apostles and prophets are the most eminent species included
in it. Dusterdieck, on the other hand, thinks these are referred to as being
on earth, and so he makes a distinction in this verse as between heaven and
earth.
“judged your judgment” ,—"Hath exacted from her that judgment
of vengeance which is due to you." (A.)
Ver. 21. “a strong angel”, —The strength of the angel is empha¬
sized by what he did.
' cast it into the sea”, —This is a symbolical act presenting in a most
vivid manner both the suddenness and the completeness of the destruction
of Babylon.
“found no more",—i. e. f as the magnificent city it had been (L.), but
would continue as a desolate ruin for a memorial. (L.)
Ver. 22. In this verse, says Weidner, emphasis is laid upon the fact
that three kinds of the activities of life have ceased—the life of pleasure,
the life of business and domestic life. For the imagery see Jer. 25.10
and Ezek. 26.13, the first referring to Jerusalem and the second to Tyre.
Ver. 23. What a contrast to the city of God in Chap 22!
Ver. 24. Says Weidner, "The future Babylon, the great world-city
of the last days, will be the central power from which all the persecutions
684
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
of the saints will arise, especially in the earlier part of Antichrist's reign,
before Babylon is destroyed by him and his allied kings.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
1 After these things I heard as it were
a great voice of a great multitude in
heaven, saying.
Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory,
and power, belong to our God: 2
for true and righteous are his
judgments; for he hath judged the
great harlot, her that corrupted the
earth with her fornication, and he
hath avenged the blood of his
’servants at her hand.
3 And a second time they 2 say, Halle¬
lujah. And her smoke goeth up 8 for
ever and ever. 4 And the four and
’Gr. bondservants
3 Gr. have said
J Gr. unto the ages of the ages
Vers. 1-6. The Fourfold Hallelujah of the Heavenly Multi¬
tude.
The fall of Babylon is now assumed to have taken place and in this
chapter the overthrow is celebrated in heaven by«a song of triumph.
Ver. 1. “great multitude ”,—Not necessarily those mentioned in
Chap. 18.20 (B. Hen.), nor the glorified martyrs only (Ew. Gab.), but
those who dwell in heaven, "the united hosts of heaven," says Stuart.
Others (A. L. F.) say the glorified Church, but inasmuch as the elders
(representing the glorified Church) give the response in verse 4, it may
be better here to think, as Weidner does, of the heavenly host of angels
standing around about the throne and about the elders and about the four
living creatures. (See Chap. 7.11.)
“Hallelujah ”,—Elliott calls attention to the fact that the word here
used (Hallelujah) is for the first time Hebrew, and therefore with others
(V. Br. Dau. Bic.) thinks that the Jews are to have a prominent part in
this song. He says that "the Jews will probably just at, or after this
catastrophe, be converted and join, and perhaps take the lead in, the earthly
Church’s song of praise on the occasion." Elliott further says, "I infer that
down to the time figured by this chorus (i. e., after the destruction of mys¬
tical Babylon) no translation of living saints, or resurrection of the saints
departed, will have taken place." But this is mere conjecture, and Alford
rightly says that the Hebrew form passed with the Psalter into the Chris¬
tian Church and is quite natural here.
Ver. 2. This is an answer to the prayer of Chap. 6.10. Alford
says, "The vengeance is considered as a penalty exacted, forced out of the
reluctant hand."
“true”, —i. e., just,—in the way of retribution.
Ver. 3. “her smoke”, —i. e., the smoke of Babylon, the smoke of
her burning.
“forever and ever ”,—Unto the ages of the ages. Says Lange, "This
twenty elders and the four living crea¬
tures fell down and worshipped God
that sitteth on the throne, saying.
Amen; Hallelujah. 5 And a voice came
forth from the throne, saying.
Give praise to our God, all ye his
’servants, ye that fear him. the
small and the great.
6 And 1 heard as it were the voice of
a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunders, saying,
Hallelujah; for the Lord our God,
the Almighty, reigneth.
685
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
far surpasses modern sentimentalities."
Wordsworth says, “Another proof that the destruction of mystical
Babylon will be final and that therefore Babylon cannot be heathen
Rome." While this refers to the temporal destruction of the mystical
Babylon, as seen in the last chapter, it implies that those upon whom the
judgment falls shall suffer everlasting punishment.
Ver. 4. Confirmation of the praise by the elders and the four living
creatures. The last act related of them.
Ver. 5. “a voice”, —Bengel says it belonged to the four living
creatures, while others (D. Zu.) say it belonged to one of them. It is
useless to conjecture whose, although it is hardly Christ’s (Ew. St. Hen.),
who never spoke thus of “our God”. Dusterdieck thinks because of the
expression “our God” the voice belonged to the elders.
Ver. 6. "reigneth”, —i. e., hath taken to Himself a Kingdom.
Christ is considered prophetically as already reigning, for His Advent in
glory is to follow so soon after the fall of Babylon. The tense of the verb
in the Greek is past, but our English past tenses are wholly inadequate to
reproduce the Greek ones and we must therefore in English translate in
the present tense, “reigneth” ; or we might translate “did take the king¬
dom”.
7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding
glad, and let us give the glory unto
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is
come, and his wife hath made herself
ready. 8 And it was given unto her
that she should array herself in fine
linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen
is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 And he saith unto me. Write,
Blessed are they that are bidden to the
marriage supper of the Lamb. And he
saith unto me. These are true words
of God. 10 And I fell down before
his feet to 'worship him. And he saith
unto me. See thou do it not: I am a
fellow-servant with thee and with thy
brethren that hold the testimony of
Jesus: 'worship God: for the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
*See marginal note on Chap. 13.12
Vers. 7-10. The Marriage of the Lamb.
Ver. 7. “rejoice and be glad”, —Not alone because Babylon has
fallen, but as the rest of the verse indicates because of the prospects and
privileges of the Church,—the marriage of the Lamb.
“the marriage of the Lamb is come”, —This is introduced here
proleptically referring either to the far away future or to the immediate
future, that is, to the time after the Millennium or to the time before the
Millennium. Fausset, with others (A. Zu. Dus. Hen. Weid.), takes the
first view and says, “The full and final consummation is at Chap. 21.2-9,
but before this there must be the overthrow of the beast at the Lord’s
coming, the binding of Satan, the Millennium reign, the loosing of Satan,
his final overthrow and the general judgment. The elect Church is trans¬
figured soon after the destruction of the harlot, is transfigured at the Lord’s
coming and joins with Him in His triumph over the beast."
Weidner says, “In its prophetic aspect it is assumed that the time of
the marriage of the Lamb is come, though it has not yet occurred in the
vision, and will not happen until after the events foretold in Chap. 20.14.”
Hengstenberg says. “This is not the marriage supper, the marriage
feast, as Vitringa falsely infers from verse 9, but the marriage itself. Here
686
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
it Us come’, is already at the door, but it is only in Chap. 21.2 that the
new Jerusalem comes into view, prepared and adorned as a bride for
her husband. We are here, therefore, already beyond the victory of the
ten kings, beyond the thousand years, beyond the last victory over Gog
and Magog.”
On the other hand many maintain that the proleptical reference under
consideration is to the immediate future, and that this marriage of the
Lamb takes place at the beginning of the Millennial reign, and that Chap.
21.2,9,10, does not refer to this marriage but to a new and later manifesta¬
tion of the bride. (L. Sco. Mor. Gab. Glas. Crav.)
Lange says the above views are very contracted, and that even in the
parables of our Lord His Parousia is designated as the beginning of the
marriage. The marriage and the marriage supper, he says, though distinct
in themselves, coincide in point of time.
Craven says, “The bride is the whole body of the saints (the quick
and the dead, at the first resurrection) at the Second Advent, and the
marriage is of this body with a personally present Christ in glory and
government; and the vision of Chap. 21.1 and 2 refers not to the marriage
but to a new manifestation of the bride.”
According to this view the marriage consists in the union of
Christ with the saints, the quick and the dead of the first resurrection, in
the glory and government of the Millennial Kingdom.
We are inclined to agree with the teaching of these latter authorities
as to this matter. Certainly “ is come” refers to something present or pro-
leptically soon to come, and as Craven says, it cannot be supposed that a
space of one thousand years is grasped by such an expression.
Zundel says that both expressions, the “marriage ” and the “ marriage
supper ”, are alike in meaning and designate not the future marriage itself,
but the “preliminary festival of the Messiah’s marriage”, i. e., the one
thousand years’ reign.
“his wife hath made herself ready”, —i. e., arrayed herself in a becom¬
ing manner as seen in the next verse.
Ver. 8. It is difficult to decide here whether these words are a part
of the song or an explanation given by the angel or by John, but they
are probably the words of the Seer himself as would appear from the fact
that the nature of the linen is explained, and likewise because the expres¬
sion, “And it was given unto her”, is the same form which recurs so often
throughout the vision, from Chap. 6.2 onwards.
“given unto her”, —Her garments were given unto her by Christ
Himself. In a sense she, through the Holy Spirit, made herself ready, but
in the fullest sense, as Fausset says, it is not she but her Lord who by
giving Himself for her, presents her to Himself a glorious Church, not
having spot, but holy and without blemish, and sanctifies her, naturally
vile and without beauty, and puts His own comeliness upon her, which
thus becomes her.
“bright and pure” ,—“The brilliant glory of a virtuous life and spot¬
less purity from sin.”
“righteous acts of the saints”, —The reference here is doubtless to the
righteous deeds of the saints themselves (D. A. L. Eb. Ph. Dus. Kli. Sim.
687
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Gab. Gcbh. Weid. R-V.). It is plural, and the literal translation is “the
righteousnesses’'. Milligan says, “John had no fear of saying that the
redeemed shall be presented before God in righteous acts of their own. He
could not think of them except as at once justified and sanctified in Jesus."
Says Dusterdieck, “A delicate allusion to the grace given by God, as the
cause and source of the “righteousnesses" peculiar to the saints is contained
in the expression, ' And it was given unto her’.”
This very expression, however, ‘‘it was given unto her,” furnishes
some ground for the other view, namely that it is the imputed righteous¬
ness of Christ that is here meant rather than the saints’ own righteousness.
(F. St. Ew. Bar. Bez. Sco. Gerh.)
Stuart points with much force to Phil. 3.9 in answer to the statement
of Lange, namely, that Christ's righteousness is not a thing reserved for the
last times, being something received at the time of regeneration.
However, this contention of Lange’s together with the comparison of
what is really its parallel. Chap. 14.4, and the fact of the plural form
“righteousnesses" seems to favor the view first given.
Ver. 9. ‘‘And he saith ",—i. e., not the ‘‘strong angel” of Chap.
18.21 (Mil.), not an angel constantly attending him (Ew. Eb.), but
the angel of Chap. 17.1. (A. B. D. Dus. Hen. Sim. Weid.)
‘‘the marriage supper ”,—It might be well here to quote the words
of Glasgow for what they are worth in themselves and in any possible
bearing they may have on the order of events in this portion of the Apoca¬
lypse. He says, “In every instance of the word 'marriage' (gamos) in the
New Testament it means the festivities, which were sometimes a consid¬
erable period after the actual covenant or bond of marriage. The wedding
day was rather the day when the bride was taken to the home of her
husband’s house, than what we should designate the day of marriage,
that is, after the marriage itself had really taken place. (See Fairbairn,
Dictionary of the Bible.) By His incarnation Jesus becomes the Bride¬
groom and His Church became the bride. And if it be necessary to distin¬
guish ‘wife from ‘bride , let it be observed that ‘wife’ (gune) is the
word employed in the text of verse 7, and not ‘bride’ (numphe) as in
Chap. 21.2. The same festive occasion which in verse 7 is called the
‘marriage’ is here, in verse 9, called the r marriage supper', which shows
that not the marriage ceremony, but the joyous festivities are meant."
Milligan says, “After the marriage will come the marriage supper,
the fullness of blessing to be enjoyed by the redeemed. It may be a
question whether we are to distinguish between the bride herself and those
who appear to be spoken of as guests at the marriage supper. But the
analogy of Scripture, and especially of such passages as Matt. 22.2; 26.29,
lead to the conclusion that no such distinction can be drawn. Those who
are faithful to the Lord are at once the Lamb's bride and the Lamb’s
guests."
Lange says, “The Church in its unitous form is the Bride; in its
individual members it consists of guests." (Sim. Weid.)
“These are true words of God”, —The reference is perhaps to all
this angel has said from Chap. I 7.1 onward. (Fausset refers it to all the
previous revelations.) They are the very truth of God and so shall veri¬
tably come to pass. (A. B. Eb. Bl. Ew. Dus.)
688
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
The more proper meaning of “true" is "genuine", though this need
not be pressed here. Being the genuine, the veritable words of God, they
shall come to pass; but this is equally the thought from the use of the word
“true", which sense is the usual one throughout the Apocalypse. The
reference seems not so much to the truth of the contents, but to the reality
of their being the words of God, being which they are of course true.
Ver. 10. “to worship him ",—This was doubtless out of an over¬
weening reverence for the one who had imparted to him such great things.
Simcox says that from the last words John thought the speaker was God
Himself who was present in the angel, as in the Old Testament, and that
John meant to worship God in the Angel. Stuart says John lost con¬
sciousness of what he was doing, believing that Christ Himself was veiled
in the form of the angel.
Fausset says, "John intending to worship the angel here, as in
Chap. 22.8. is the involuntary impulse of adoring ioy at so blessed a
prospect as that portrayed by the angel. It exemplifies the corrupt ten¬
dencies of our fallen nature that even John, an Apostle, should all but
have fallen into 'voluntary humility and worshipping of angels’ which
Paul warns us against."
Some (A. L. Dus.) say that John probably thought the angel who
was speaking to him was the Lord Himself; but Chap. 17.1 would seem
to contradict this sufficiently. Hengstenberg takes it as an act of humility
on John’s part and commends him for it. Others (V. B. Gro.) recognize
in it only an excessive token of gratitude. Lange says that the action
must be regarded as entirely a procedure taking place within the vision, and
not therefore as a subject for moral criticism. Dusterdieck says at first
(Chap. 17.1) John had a proper estimate of the angel, but that the last
words of verse 9 made him suppose the Lord Himself had spoken to him.
The view either of Fausset or of Dusterdieck may be acceptable, but as
between the two we the rather prefer the latter.
“thy fellow servant”, —i. e., serves the same Lord.
“thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus”, —An expression
referring to all believers.
“for the testimony ”, etc., —Not the words of John explaining what
the angel had just said (Dus.), but of the angel himself in explanation.
(F. A. L. V. D. Bar. Sim.)
“of Jesus", —i. e. f respecting Jesus (F. A. L. V. D.), and not "pro¬
ceeding from Jesus" (Dus.).
“the spirit of prophecy”, —What the angel says is in substance,
"Thou and I and our brethren are all witnesses of Jesus, i. e., we bear
testimony respecting Jesus, and this is the spirit of prophecy, i. e., the
result of the Spirit of prophecy working in us." (A. F.)
11 And I saw the heaven opened;
and behold, a white horse, and he that
sat thereon called Faithful and True:
and in righteousness he doth judge and
make war. 1 2 And his eyes are a flame
of fire, and upon his head are many
diadems; and he hath a name written
which no one knoweth but he himself.
1 3 And he is arrayed in a garment
'sprinkled with blood: and his name
is called The Word of God. 14 And
the armies which are in heaven followed
him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and pure. 15 And out of
'S^mc ancient authorities read dipfx'd in
689
_ THE REVELATION OF JOHN _
his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword. Almighty. 16 And he hath on his
that with it he should smite the nations: garment and on his thigh a name writ-
and he shall rule them with a rod of ten, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD
iron: and he treadeth the “winepress of OF. LORDS,
the fierceness of the wrath of God, the
a Gr, winepress of the wine of fierceness
Vers. 11-16. The Vision of the Second Coming of Christ in
Glory.
Ver. 11 . "And I saw the heaven opened" , — In Chap. 1 7.3 John in
spirit was carried to the earth. (B.)
"a white horse and he that sat thereon", —It is certain that the rider
of this white horse is none other than Christ, whatever may be the case
in Chap. 6.2.
Many (F. A. L. St. Mil. Bar. Hen. Dus.) claim that the horse and
rider in this chapter is the same as in Chap. 6.2, much of this verse being
verbatim, as they say, with the passage there, and the very construction of
the participles being the same. Still others (Pet. Gab. Sco. Weid. Moor.)
say they are different.
Says Scofield, “The vision is of the departure from heaven of Christ
and the saints and angels preparatory to the catastrophe in which Gentile
world-power, headed up in the beast, is smitten by the 'stone cut out
without hands' (Dan. 2.34,33). It is at this coming of Christ in glory
that He will deliver the Jewish remnant besieged by the Gentile world-
powers under the beast and false prophet. This battle is the first event
in ‘the day of Jehovah', and is the fulfillment of the smiting-stone pro¬
phecy of Daniel."
"Faithful and True",—(See Chap. 3.14). "Faithful," because his
promises to His believers have always been and are now again in largest
possible measure fulfilled. "True", because by His triumphant going forth
He proves Himself to be the Messiah announced from olden time. Fausset
says we must distinguish between this coming, His Parousia (Matt. 24.27.
29,37,39) and the end or final judgment (Matt. 25.31; I Cor. 15.23).
Ver. 12. "his eyes are a flame of fire", —Verbatim with Chap. 1.14
"many diadems", —Not the crowns of the ten kings, because having
the crowns signifies that he has already conquered them (Zu.) ; because
in fact He is just going forth to conquer them. Nor is it as representing
the dominion of Christ over all, both in heaven and earth (And.). It
is, no doubt, because He is King of kings. (F. A. L. D. H. Bl. St. Ew.
Dus. Hen. Vol. Lud. Bar. Sim.)
"written" ,—Probably on His forehead (A. Ew. Hen. Dus. Bl.),
rather than on His vesture (Ca.), or on His diadem (Ei.).
"a name ",—To conjecture definite names, unless it be that of verse
13 is useless and a violation of the very context. It is either the name
mentioned in verse 13, or a name visible to John, but which was to him
inscrutable (D. B. Eb. Hen. Gro. Dus.). The latter is the more likely
inasmuch as the name was known to none but the Lord. Those who so
take it (V.) say the "no one knoweth" refers to the mystery hidden in
that name rather than to the name itself. It is perhaps the new and
glorious name of Chap. 3.12, whose meaning will perhaps be disclosed
690
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
to believers in the day of their complete union with Him, perhaps at the
marriage feast of the Lamb.
Ver. 13. (See Isa. 63.1-6.) The reference here is to the blood of
his enemies, after the manner of the victor. (F. A. B. D. Zu. St. Dus. Hen.
Sim. Bar. Mil. Weid.) The prophetic description of Isa. 63.1-6 finds
fulfillment in these words.
"The Word of God”, —Used only by John,—a strong argument in
favor of his authorship. It indicates His incommunicable Godhead, joined
to His manhood which He shall then manifest in glory, as Fausset says.
It is, as Lange says, his theological name and marks His divine nature alone.
Ver. 14. “the armies which are in heaven”, —Not the angels only
(D. Bl. Hen. Lud.), but the glorified saints as well, and pre-eminently
so, inasmuch as the vesture of the hosts is described as “white and pure”.
(A. F. L. St. Dus. Bar. Sim. Mil.)
Mackintosh says, “These armies are not angels, but saints; for we
do not read of angels being clothed in fine linen, which is expressly declared
in this very chapter (verse 8) to be ‘the righteousness of the saints'."
“white and pure”, —i. e., symbolizing the purity and holiness of the
heavenly armies.
This mighty host has no armor and most expositors take it that the
saints are mere spectators of His victory and are there to participate in the
joy of His triumph and not to engage in the work of blood, their garments
indeed not being sprinkled with blood as are the garments of their Lord.
(Mil. Sim. Bar. Weid.)
Ver. 15. “a sharp sword”, —i. e., the Word of God in its judging
power, its avenging power. (See on Chap. 1.16.)
“he treadeth the winepress”, —Dusterdieck says the idea is that from
the winepress the wine of God's wrath flows which is to be given to His
enemies to drink. We prefer, however, the thought that the winepress is
the wrath of God and the wine flowing from it is the blood of His enemies,
i. e., His enemies would be crushed before Him, as grapes are crushed under
the feet of him who treads the winepress. (St. Hen. Bar.)
Ver. 16. “on His garment and on His thigh”, —Some (A. F. Sim.
Weid.) think it is at the place where in an equestrian figure the robe drops
from the thigh, and so the name is partly on the vesture and partly on the
thigh.
Others (B. Bar.) think it was written both on the garment and on
the thigh so that when the bloody garment is laid aside or is open and
flowing so as to expose the limb of the rider, the name would be con¬
spicuous.
Many (D. Su. Dus. Mil. Vol.) take the “and” in an explanatory
way, i. e., on his vesture, that part of it covering his thigh. It is impossible
to determine but perhaps this last view is the more correct, the part
referred to being doubtless his girdle holding the tucked up vesture of one
advancing to battle.
691
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
17 And I saw ‘an angel standing in
the sun; and he cried with a loud voice,
saying to all the birds that fly in mid
heaven, Come and be gathered together
unto the great supper of God; 18 that
ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the
flesh of 2 captains, and the flesh of
mighty men, and the flesh of horses and
of them that sin thereon, and the flesh
of all men, both free and bond, and
small and great.
19 And 1 saw the beast, and the
kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against
1 Gr. one
a 0r, military tribunes; Gr. chiliarchs
him that sat upon the horse, and against
his army. 20 And the beast was taken,
and with him the false prophet that
wrought the signs in his sight, where¬
with he deceived them that had received
the mark of the beast and them that
worshipped his image: they two were
cast alive into the lake of fire that
burneth with brimstone: 21 and the
rest were killed with the sword of him
that sat upon the horse, even the sword
which came forth out of his mouth:
and all the birds were filled with their
flesh.
3 See marg-inal note on Chap. 13.12
Vers. 17-21. The Battle of Armageddon.
Ver. 17. "an angel standing in the sun ",—A place of brightness
and glory becoming such a herald of so great a victory, and the standpoint
from which he can best call the birds flying in mid-heaven.
"Come", etc .,—A close reproduction of Ezek. 39.17. The whole
description shows how great and universal the slaughter is to be and how
relentless the judgment.
Says Dennett, “The flower of Europe in men and arms will be
gathered together, and in anticipation of their dreadful fate this angelic
summons resounds, throughout the heavens.”
"the great supper of God", —It is "great" because of the number of
victims slain; it is "of God" because He ordained it and gives it. It is in
antithesis to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Ver. 19. "gathered together", —At Armageddon, as under the sixth
vial, for the conflict already proclaimed in Chap. 16.14. (F. A. Dus.
Bar. Sco. Gab. Sim. Mil. Weid.)
"his army", —The singular is chosen to show the unity of Christ’s
forces in contrast with the rent body of his enemies where the plural is
used. (L. A. B. Dus. Hen.)
"gathered together to make war", —Says Scofield, “The day of Je¬
hovah (called also 'that day’ and ‘the great day’) is that lengthened
period of time beginning with the return of the Lord in glory, and ending
with the purgation of the heavens and the earth by fire preparatory to the
new heavens and the new earth (II Pet. 3.13; Rev. 21.1). The order
of events seems to be: (1) The return of the Lord in glory (Matt.
24.29,30) ; (2) the destruction of the beast and his host, 'the kings of
the earth and their armies’, and the false prophet, which is the ‘great and
terrible’ aspect of the day (Rev. 19.11-21); (3) the judgment of the
nations (Zech. 14.1-9; Matt. 25.31-46); (4) the thousand years, i. e.,
the kingdom-age (Rev. 20.4-6) ; (5) the Satanic revolt and its end
(Rev. 20.7-10); (6) the second resurrection and final judgment (Rev.
20.11-15); and (7) the 'day of God’, earth purged by fire (II Pet.
3.10-13)/'
Ver. 20. "th? beast was taken", —“This beast,” says Scofield, “is
the 'little horn’ of Dan. 7.24-26, and ' desolator’ of Dan. 9.27; the 'abom¬
ination of desolation of Matt. 24.15; the 'man of sin of II Thess. 2.4-8;
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THE REVELATION OF JOHN
earth’s last and most awful tyrant, Satan’s fell instrument of wrath and
hatred against God and the saints. He is, perhaps, identical with the rider
on the while horse of Rev. 6.2, who begins by the peaceful conquest of
three of the ten kingdoms into which the former Roman empire will then
be divided, but who soon establishes the ecclesiastical and governmental
tyranny dscribed in Dan. 7.9,11 ; Rev. 13. To him Satan gives the power
which he offered to Christ (Matt. 4.8,9; Rev. 13.4)/’
" the false prophet that wrought the signs’, —This shows the false
prophet to be the same as the second beast.
''alive”, —This heightens the idea of the terror and awfulness of
their punishment.
Hengstenberg says, “The term 'alive', without bodily death, confirms
the idea that the beast and the false prophet are not human individuals at
all, but purely ideal forms. A human individual cannot enter hell alive.”
If this be so, it might be in order to ask Hengstenberg that if the beast and
false prophet are merely ideal forms or emblems of mere powers, what then
can be the meaning of the emblematic trait of such ideal forms and emblems
of powers being cast alive into hell.
” into the lake of fire”, etc., —The Gehenna, or Hell, properly so-
called. (Matt. 5.22.) We are told later that Satan and Death and Hades
are cast into this same place. This is the second death.
Ver. 21. "the rest”, —i. e., all the followers of Antichrist, not the
whole remaining human race. (L. F. Bar. Weid.)
"killed by the sword which came out of his mouth”, —Weidner
suggests that they may have been stricken down by the word of Christ
as were Ananias and Sapphira. A simple word from the mouth of Christ
suffices to destroy the whole army in an instant. (D. L. Bar. Sim.) “A
magnificent description, indeed, of his pswer,” says Stuart.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I And I saw an ang?l coming down
cut of heaven, having the key of the
abyss and a great chain 'in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the
old serpent, which is the Devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand
’Or. ttfon
Vers. 1-3. Satan Bound for One Thousand Years.
Ver. 1. "an angel coming down out of heaven”, —Not Christ (V.
Ca. Aug. And. Hen.), nor the Holy Spirit (Coc.), but merely as the text
says, "an angel”. (A. Dus. Weid.)
"the abyss ”,—Not identical with the lake of Chap. 19.20, but the
abode of the devil and his angels prior to the Devil being cast into the
lake.
years, 3 and cast him into the abyss, and
shut it, and sealed it over him, that he
should deceive the nations no more,
until the thousand years should be fin¬
ished: after this he must be loosed for
a little time.
Ver. 2. The various names express the character of the Devil and
show how necessary it is to bind him.
"bound him ”,—“This refers to Satan’s complete banishment from
earth, so that while sin is still to exist in individuals, it is no longer to be
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THE REVELATION OF JOHN
a power forming a fellowship, and thus making a kingdom of sin and
Satan."
"a thousand years', — (See remarks under verse 4).
Ver. 3. "the nations", —It is clearly implied here that after the
destruction of Antichrist in Chap. 19.21, there will remain nations on
earth who doubtless did not take part in that conflict.
What nations are these? They seem to be mentioned again in verse
8. Bleek says they are the heathen nations still remaining on the earth,
and who remain there during the thousand years, but at the most extreme
ends of the earth, so that the citizens of the Millennial kingdom do not
come in contact with them. (Kl.)
Alford has the same idea except that during the Millennium they are
"the quiet and willing subjects of the kingdom" who are again seduced
by Satan at the end of the 1000 years.
Klieforth says they are different from those intended by the expres¬
sion, "whole inhabited world", which latter refers to the civilized nations,
while the nations of our verse refer to the barbarous people living far out
at the four corners of the globe. There is certainly no sufficient ground
for this last view. Perhaps the view of Bleek covers the ground best,
although a combination of the first two views might better still answer
the question. Dusterdieck makes them simply the heathen.
"must be loosed for a little time ",—i. e., according to the necessity
of God’s purpose.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat
upon them, and judgment was given
unto them: and / saw the souls of them
that had been beheaded for the testi¬
mony of Jesus, and for the word of
God, and such as Worshipped not the
beast, neither his image, and received
not the mark upon their forehead and
upon their hand: and they lived, and
l See marginal note on Chap. 13.12
reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead lived not until
the thousand years should be finished.
This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: over these the second death
hath no 2 power: but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him 'a thousand years.
J Or, authority
3 Some ancient authorities read tha
Vers. 4-6. The First Resurrection and the One Thousand
Year Reign of the Saints.
Ver. 4. That the binding of Satan and the events of this verse are
still future there can be no doubt. Weidner says, "If any one thing is
clear, it is this, that the power of Satan has as yet not been bound." He
further says, "There is every reason to maintain that this chapter follows
the preceding one in chronological order, and that there is no recapitula¬
tion here."
"Indeed," says Dusterdieck, "every exposition must utterly fail which
in verses 1-10 maintains a recapitulation."
"thrones", —Many (D. Ew. Bl. Dus. Hen. Hei.) think these are
merely seats for judgment, as the following words show and as the
prefigurement of Dan. 7.9,22 indicates. But the idea of reigning would
appear to be the prominent one of the context here, and not only here, but
in Daniel as well as in other Scriptures on which this passage seems to be
founded, and many authorities (L. Ei. Zu. Mil.), we believe, take these
694
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
thrones rightly as places of exalted dignity, that is, thrones of kings, the
function of judgment belonging to them.
"and they sat upon them ”,—If those sitting upon these thrones are
to reign with Christ, then Christ Himself must have been sitting upon one
of them as the center and the source of their authority.
But who are the other occupants of these thrones?
1. God Himself and Christ with His holy angels. (St. Gro.)
But the statement that judgment was given unto them forbids
this.
2. The twenty-four Elders. (D. Dus. Hen.)
But John always seems to mention the twenty-four Elders when
he has them in view.
3. The martyrs and those who had not worshipped the beast, as
mentioned in this verse. (Ei. Eb. Bez. Bar.)
But the special mention of these does not necessarily imply, nor
would it seem from the generally admitted parallel passages
(Chap. 11.17,18 and Dan. 7.18) that they were the only
enthroned ones.
4. The twelve Apostles as in Matt. 19.28, and the saints in general,
Old Testament and New, as in I Cor. 6.2,3. (F. A. L. B. EI.
Zu. Ew. Sim. Mil. Tor. Sco. Mor. Gab. Pet. Weid. Gebh. Moor.)
View 4 is by all means to be preferred.
"and judgment was given unto them ”,—Milligan says the word
used for judgment does not mean the act of judging, but the result of
the judgment, and that this fact together with the word ”given” shows
that they themselves were the ones affected by the judgment, that is, that
they were judged worthy and did not therefore have to come into the
judgment (John 5.24). He says the righteous are not to be seated with
Christ as assessors in judgment because there were none before them at
this moment to be judged.
But the word " judgment” is by no means to be confined in its mean¬
ing to that asserted by Milligan and furthermore it is assuredly the teach¬
ing of Scripture that those who are to sit on these thrones are to exercise
a judicial rule of some kind. (F. Hen. Weid.)
The reference here is more properly to "the right of judging" (Sim.),
"judgment exercised" (Dus.), "power of pronouncing judgment" (Bar.).
To whom then shall their judgment as rendered refer? Certainly
not to the judgment of verses 1-3 and Chaps. 19,20,21 (Eb.), since, as
Lange says, in those passages the sentence of judgment was decided by
war, and we would hardly expect Antichrist and Satan to be sentenced
through a trial by jury.
1. Many (St. Dus. Hen.) say the persons upon whom this judg¬
ment is to pass are the martyrs and those who had not rendered homage
to the beast, as specified in the next part of the verse, and the sentence is
that they are "to live and reign with Christ a thousand years", that is, they
were to have part in the first Resurrection.
But this view under discussion is, according to Alford, warranted
neither by the context nor any other part of Scripture, and is contradicted
by John 5.24.
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THE REVELATION OF JOHN
2. Others (EL Sim. Gab. Pet. Weid. Moor.) say the reference can
Only be to a judicial rule over the nations of the earth during the 1000
years, the nature of which we cannot explain.
3. Lange combines the two views and says, “The decision to be
rendered is concerning those who are still living (who were not in the
antichristian army) as to whether their lives shall be preserved throughout
the 1000 years; and concerning those who were beheaded and those who
refused, homage to the beast, as to how far they were worthy of being
called to the first resurrection."
While Dusterdieck and Stuart advocate the same view as to who
are the parties judged they each of them have their own view as to who
the judges are, Dusterdieck referring them to the twenty-four elders, and
Stuart to God, Christ and His angels.
Taking up this view of Stuart’s once more; he claims that if the
martyrs, etc., are made the judges, we have the difficulty of having them
take their places upon the thrones before they “lived", i. e., were resur¬
rected. But the order of the transactions may not be absolutely deter¬
mined by the words of the text; but only the facts of the case, the writer
combining all of these in a single sentence, grouping things related and not
narrating them after the strict order of succession. These are practically
Stuart's own words, but instead of resting the case thus, he resolves the
difficulty in another way. He says God and Christ must be included
among the judges. We do not see why God must be conceived of as one
of the judges, but on this view Stuart is confronted with the difficulty
found in the sentence, “ And judgment was given unto them". He asks,
“who could commit judgment to them?" To relieve this situation he
brings in the angels, and then thinks of John having these angels in mind
in the use of the expression, “given unto them".
Now this interpretation is possible, but hardly probable. It is quite
true that the cooperation of angels, in some important sense, on great
occasions, is not foreign to the Bible. But where in Scripture are the
angels represented as judging? Besides I Cor. 6.3 says the Christians “shall
judge angels". II Tim. 2.12 says that saints “shall sit down with the
Redeemer upon His throne". Matt. 19.28 says the Apostles “shall sit on
thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel".
So far as the view of Dusterdieck is concerned, it is sufficient to
inquire as to the propriety of having ordinary saints, or the twenty-four
elders, who represent the Church, sit in judgment on the martyrs as to
whether they were worthy of the first resurrection. It would seemingly be
more appropriate to reverse the case.
There is no other safe way to interpret this passage than in keeping
with Scripture representations elsewhere, and • the view that takes the
sitters upon the thrones as saints in general, including the martyrs, and
as exercising a rule over the nations, the nature of which we are not to
conjecture, is perhaps the best that can be advanced. In this case the
martyrs and those who had not bowed to the beast are set forward as
worthy of special mention.
Where are these thrones?
We are inclined to think of them as in heaven where the martyrs
and the glorified saints, throughout the Apocalypse and Scriptures in
696
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
general, are represented as being with Christ. Fausset's objection, however,
that "earth is not yet transfigured and cannot therefore be the meet locality
for the transfigured Church" is hardly to the point, for while it may be
true, and doubtless is, that the transfiguration of earth spoken of in the
following chapter refers to the condition of things at the close of the
Millennium and of all time, namely, at the beginning of eternity, yet if
there is to be in any sense a glorification of earth during the Millennium,
the beginning of this glorification must follow" immediately after the close
of Chap. 19 and therefore be coincident with the vision of Chap. 20 with
which we are now dealing.
But so far as our exegesis has led us we see no reason to take issue
with Stuart when he says that there is no intimation anywhere that Christ
comes from heaven and takes up his abode upon the earth, nor must we
overlook the difficulty of conceiving of a material earth fitted up as the
abode of spiritual bodies, or the physical association of those with spiritual
bodies with those of material bodies even on a glorified earth.
"them that had been beheaded", —Referring to decapitation by the
axe, the old Roman method of execution (literally, "struck with an axe"),
and used here as a symbol of any and every kind of martyrdom.
"f or the testimony of Jesus" ,—i. e., because of their testimony con¬
cerning Him, referring both to those who preached the Christian doctrine
and to those who believed it.
"for the word of God",—An expression somewhat wider in extent
than the former one, embracing all the doctrines of true religion.
"and such as worshipped not the beast ",—Is this a mere relative
clause referring to "the souls of them that had been beheaded" , or does it
designate a different or additional class of Christians, who had suffered in
various ways but had not been actually martyred? Plainly the latter. (St.
Dus. Pet. Gab. Weid.)
"souls", —This word has caused some to deny to the following word
"lived" the idea of a literal resurrection of the body.
Barnes says, "If he saw the souls of the martyrs, not the bodies, this
would seem to exclude the notion of a literal resurrection and of a literal
reign of the saints with Christ during the Millennium. The word used
here is fatal to this notion. There is here not the slightest intimation of
the resurrection of the body, and John did not mean to teach the doctrine
of any such resurrection occurring at this time." (Brown, Whitby, Faber.)
Alford on the other hand says, "As regards the text itself, no legiti¬
mate treatment of it will extort what is known as the spiritual interpre¬
tation now in fashion. If in a passage where two resurrections are men¬
tioned, where certain souls lived at the first, and the rest of the dead lived
only at the end of a specified period after the first,—if in such a passage
the first resurrection may be understood to mean spiritual rising with
Christ, while the second means literal rising from the grave; then there
is an end to all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a
definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then
so is the second, which I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain;
but if the second is literal, then so is the first, which in common with the
whole primitive Church and many of the best modern expositors, I do
maintain and receive as an article of faith and hope." Dean Alford has
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THE REVELATION OF JOHN
here without doubt the weight of scholarship with him. (F. EL St. Lud.
Mil. Sim. Pet. Gab. Bla. Sco. Mor. Tor. Mack. Weid. Crav. Moor.)
We are convinced that if the argument for a non-literal resurrection
had to depend alone upon the meaning of the word “souls”, it would have
a scant and unsubstantial ground upon which to rest.
Milligan is doubtless right in saying that the analogy of Chap. 6.9
makes it clear that they were no more than souls which John says he saw,
and that at the time to which John refers they had not yet been clothed
with their resurrection bodies.
Fausset also is quite clear here. He say s, "The word ' souls' expresses
their disembodied state as John saw them at first in Chap. 6.9; and the
expression 'they lived’ implies their coming to life in the body again so as
to be visible. It accords with Paul's expression, ‘they that are Christ's
at His coming:’. While ' souls’ is doubtless used here in the sense of dis¬
embodied spirits when first seen by John, the word is also used in general
for ‘persons’ and even for ‘dead bodies'."
Various reasons are given by others for taking the resurrection here
mentioned in a spiritual sense, i. e., the soul as raised now by vivifying
faith from the death of sin, i. e., regeneration; and while these reasons
are not altogether without force, they are hardly sufficient to overthrow the
more normal intrepretation of Alford and the many others who agree
with him.
“and they lived”, —Milligan says, "By every rule of interpretation
this word must be understood in the same sense here as in the following
clause, where it is applied to 'the rest of the dead’.”
Stuart handles this question quite thoroughly, as follows:
Ca) It cannot mean simply "to live"; for thus it would imply that
the soul had been dead; whereas the Apocalypse and all Scrip¬
ture teaches that the soul continues to exist after the death of
the body. The word therefore cannot mean merely to recover
a psychological existence which was lost.
(b) It cannot mean to live spiritually, in opposition to being dead
in trespasses and sins, for all the saints and martyrs possess such
a life from the moment of their regeneration.
(c) It cannot mean to become immortal; for this they always were.
(d) It cannot mean merely to become happy at the beginning of
the Millennium, for those who die in the Lord are made happy
immediately. There would seem to remain therefore only one
meaning which can consistently be given to the word, namely,
that they are now restored to life, such life as implies the revivi¬
fication of the body—a union of the soul with a spiritual
body.
Those who take the opposite view find here only a prophecy of a
resuscitation of the martyr spirit at the beginning of the Millennium; the
“raising up of increased zeal and holiness; the revival in the Church of the
spirit and energy of the martyrs of old."
“reigned with Christ ",—Seiss says, "This thousand years' reign of
the saints is specifically preceded by a description of the coming forth from
the opened heavens of the Lord of lords and King of kings, accompanied
by the glorified saints, to judge and to make war (Chap. 19.11-21), to
698
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
crush out the antichristian beasts and their armies, to bind Satan, and to
tread ‘the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God'. What¬
ever then this judgeship, regency and dominion of the saints may be, the
record places it after the Second Advent and not before it."
Here again all that Barnes can see in these words is, "They were
exalted in their principles and in their personal happiness in heaven, as if
they occupied the throne with Him and shared in its honors and triumphs."
"a thousand years”, —The equivalent of this expression in the Latin
language is the word Millennium, at the very mention of which word we
are at once confronted with a number of varying views as to what it means
and what relation it holds to the Parousia of our Lord. These views fall
into four general classes:
I. No-Millennium .
The expression is to be taken in a symbolical sense without reference
to any time period whatsoever. (Kl. Dus. Mil. Naylor, Heagle.) There
is to be no Millennium whatsoever. The Old Testament prophecies of
the time when swords shall be beaten into plowshares and the wolf shall
dwell with the lamb and the lion eat straw like an ox are only figurative
expressions of the peace that was to come to humanity as a result of Christ's
first coming as the Saviour of the world (Naylor), or describe in a figura¬
tive way the full blessing and glory of the world to come (Heagle). The
first resurrection is a spiritual one from the dea'th of sin into life in Christ,
and when Christ comes again the general resurrection of all dead will
take place, at which time Christ will judge both them and the living, and
usher in the eternal world. The Millennium being thus disposed of,
Christ may return at any moment when time will end and eternity will
begin.
These one thousand years, according to Milligan, are to be taken
"simply as an exalted symbol of the glory of the redeemed at the particular
moment referred to by the Seer." The expression, he says, denotes com¬
pleteness, thoroughness, and the reign of one thousand years refers to the
completeness of the blessedness when Christ’s people shall shine forth in
the glory they have received from Him. As referred to Satan the one thou¬
sand years represent the completeness of his overthrow, and as referred to
the saints they represent their confirmation in happiness as above noted.
"They complete the picture of that glorious condition in which believers
have all along really been, but which only now reaches its highest point
and is revealed as well as possessed."
Klieforth finds in the expression only the idea that the Lord's victory
is absolute, i. e., complete. Dusterdieck calls it merely an ideal descrip¬
tion, a poetical picture in a long series of special acts, of what according
to the real prophecy of Scripture falls upon one day of the coming of the
Lord.
Fausset says, "As seven mystically implies universality, so a thousand
implies perfection, whether in good or evil. Thousand symbolizes that
the world is perfectly leavened and pervaded by the Divine; since thousand
is ten, the number of the world, raised to the third power, three being the
number of God."
Lange says, "The one thousand years are a symbolic number denot¬
ing the aeon of transition."
699
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
It is hard, however, to think that these are legitimate interpretations
of John's words, and seems rather to be a somewhat gratuitous way of
avoiding seeming exegetical difficulties. The interpretation of the various
Scriptures involved, both those which have gone before and those which
are to follow, will show how unreliable are the grounds upon which this
whole unsubstantial theory rests. Besides to so take the expression is
a radical departure from the method of interpretation applied to other
designations of time in the Apocalypse which are referred to in a numerical
way.
Stuart is well worth quoting here. He says, “The great question
whether this is to be taken literally or symbolically, is one that must be
settled by the analogy of the book in regard to specific periods. We have
seen that the famous period of three and one-half years—forty-two months
—twelve hundred and sixty days—is to be understood, in all probability,
in its literal sense, not indeed with rigid arithmetical exactness, but as
designating at least a period of moderate extent. Here, then, assuming a
similar usage with respect to numbers, we may suppose that the thousand
years may be taken in their ordinary sense, or at least for a very long period.
The latter idea is sufficient; and the general tone of the book may justify
such a mode of interpretation."
This leaves us to deal with the expression as a designation of time,
and as such it may be taken either (1) as an expression denoting literally
one thousand years, or (2) as a symbolical expression for a long but
indefinite period of time, or (3) as a symbolical expression for 363,000
years, according to the year-day theory, a day standing for a year. The
expression may, of course, be taken in either of the last two ways, but as
long as there is no good reason for rejecting the literal interpretation
(“When the literal sense will stand, that furthest from the letter is the
worst"), and no difficulties are resolved by accepting either of the other
explanations, it would seem best to adhere to the literal meaning of one
thousand years or a period of about that length. (E. A. El. Gab. Pet. Sim.
Sco. Mor. Tor. Weid. Mack. Moor.)
Accepting then the time element in the expression we have next to
consider as to what period in the world’s history the time indicated refers,
and this introduces us to the second general theory.
II. Past-Millennium.
A Millennium which began in the fourth century with the reign of
Constantine the Great, and ended with the assault made upon Christen¬
dom, in the fourteenth century, by the Ottoman Turks. This view was
especially advocated by Grotius and Hammond, and while it has had some
advocates in recent times it never has been taken seriously by critics in
general. Much, if not all, of what is said of criticism of other views
might be said here, our purpose being served by the mere mention of the
theory.
III. Present-Millennium.
A Millennium reaching from the first to the second coming of Christ,
and in which, of course, we are now living. This is the old Augustinian
or spiritual theory, and that usually accepted by Catholic theologians.
The resurrection mentioned is a spiritual one, from the death of sin to
spiritual life in Christ. The Devil is the “strong man armed", who accord¬
ing to Christ’s own saying was bound and expelled from the hearts of
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THE REVELATION OF JOHN
His disciples, and so their reign over him made to begin. The resurrection
mentioned is one which will go on wherever the Gospel is preached, and
this will continue until Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time to
destroy the Antichrist, the one thousand years being the world's sixth
chiliad, the length of which is to be determined only by the end of time,
when the final judgment takes place and eternity begins. (Wor.)
But there are serious objections to this view.
1. The place in the book where the vision is found is unsuitable to
it. It cannot be a recapitulation. It describes a condition of the
Church after the reign of the beast in Chap. 13 and after the great
struggle with the Antichrist in Chap. 19.
2. The blessed reign is ascribed to all who have been faithful unto
death, and if the period intended is the present reign of the Church
many of the saints will not reign throughout this time because
they have been already a long time dead. Those who died in
the early times of the Christian dispensation have missed the most
of it.
3. Surely Satan cannot be spoken of as bound now. If so, it will
be a sorry world indeed when he is loosed.
4. Making the first resurrection spiritual and the second one literal
is not at all according to the principles of sound exegesis.
It might be said in passing that Augustine tells us he was induced
to forsake the pre-millennial view of the early Fathers because some per¬
verted the doctrine to carnal views. A strange reason indeed!
IV. Future-Millennium.
There remains, therefore, only the explanation which takes the
expression as a statement of a Millennium which is still in the future, a
period of one thousand years preferably, as we have seen, although even
with this view it may be taken as an indefinite period of time. Here again
we have two widely diverse views as to the relation in time of this one
thousand years to the Second Coming of Christ.
A. The Post-Millennial, or Whitbyian view, teaching that Christ's Sec¬
ond Coming takes place after the Millennium. This view was first
fully propounded by Whitby and explains the first resurrection as a
resurrection of the cause, spirit, doctrine, principles and character of
the Christian martyrs and saints departed, which, after the evil of
the world has been largely overthrown, will usher in a thousand
years of paradisical blessedness. At this point comes division of
opinion. Vitringa and others regard the implied second resurrection
as that of the literal dead, small and great, who shall appear before
the judgment of the great white throne; while Whitby, Brown and
others explain it as the uprising (the living again) of antichristian
principles at the end of the Millennium in the persons and con¬
federacy of Gog and Magog. The New Jerusalem Whitby and
Vitringa explain as the blessedness of the earthly Church during this
Millennium; while Brown and Faber explain it as including the
whole company of saints in heaven after the Millennium. (H.)
The objections which have been brought to bear against this view,
so far as the immediate text and context is concerned, and with this only
we have here to do, are as follows:
701
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
1. The “souls” beheld by the Seer were of those who had been
beheaded . This fixes their death as a literal one. So, too, then
must the resurrection have been a literal one, for it is a rule that
must never be overlooked that the resurrection must be of a cor¬
responding nature with the death out of which it is a revival of
Hfe.
2. The first resurrection is contrasted with the second at the end of
the one thousand years. These dead even Vitringa and many
others of the Postmillennial School admit to be the literal dead.
The expression, “the rest of the dead”, connects these with those
first mentioned; the rest of anything is a part of what was the
whole. If, therefore, “the rest of the dead” refers to those liter¬
ally dead, then must those of the first resurrection have been also
literally dead people.
3. It is now conceded by practically all scientific scholarship that
the result of the Seventh Trumpet refers to that which is sym¬
bolized in this chapter. Even Drs. Whitby and Brown are agreed
as to this. At the sounding of this trumpet it is said that the
time has come for “the dead to be judged” —literal dead, of course,
and if these dead, “the rest of the dead”, refer to those literally so,
then those of the first resurrection must have likewise been liter¬
ally dead.
4. The Greek word for “they lived” (eX'HGav) is in the New Testa¬
ment always applied to man in his complete condition of body
and spirit united, and is never applied to the “soul” as a dis¬
embodied entity.
5. The Greek word used for “resurrection” (avaoxaais) always sig¬
nifies in the New Testament, with perhaps a single exception, cor¬
poreal resurrection. It is used some forty-two times.
6. Whitby, Brown and others contend that the “rest of the dead”
refers to the dead antichristian cause and faction slain in Chap. 19
by Him who sat on the white horse and revived in the person and
through the instrumentality, inspired by Satan, of Gog and
Magog. But if the first resurrection refers to the revival of
Christian doctrine, cause and spirit, as these authorities hold, then
we are forced to think of the Christian cause and the antichristian
cause as being dead at the same time.
7. If there is such a thing as a dead Christian cause to be revived is
it not strange that it is nowhere symbolized in the Apocalypse?
B. The pre-millennial view teaching that Christ's Second Coming takes
place before the Millennium. This view, which is that of the earliest
Fathers of the Church, explains the first resurrection to be literally
that of departed martyrs and saints which takes place at the Second
Coming of Chrjst before the Millennium, during which Millennium
Satan’s power is to be restricted and the government of the earth is
to be administered by Christ and His risen saints, until at length, the
Millennium having ended, and Satan again gone forth to deceive
the nations, the final consummation will follow, which consists in
the antichristian hosts of Gog and Magog being destroyed by fire
702
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
from heaven, the resurrection and judgment of the wicked, the Devil
and his servants cast into the lake of fire, and the Millennial reign
of the saints being extended into one of eternal duration.
A number of arguments have been brought against this view in gen¬
eral. But again, we are concerned only with those that have to do
with the text or context before us, and these are as follows:
1. It is said that John saw only what is described as the "souls” of
certain saints, which fact excludes the notion of a literal resur¬
rection. (See Barnes on page 697.) But this does not indicate
that they were still disembodied spirits or souls anymore than
I Pet. 3.20 indicates that the eight souls (^fx^ds—same word)
mentioned there are to be taken in this sense, or that the "dead”
whom John saw in the twelfth verse of our chapter "standing
before God” were still at the very time of their standing before
God, dead men .
2. It is said that only martyrs and those " who had not worshipped
the beast” were seen sitting upon the thrones. But this does not
necessarily imply that they were the only enthroned ones. Cer¬
tainly Christ, though unmentioned, must be supposed to have
appeared in this self-same vision, since the enthroned ones are
spoken of as reigning with Christ, and may not the vision have
been equally inclusive of others though not receiving special men¬
tion which for some reason was given to the martyrs and saints
under consideration.
3. It is said that "the rest of the dead” did not live till the thousand
years were finished and that therefore they lived again immediately
after the Millennium, and consequently they could not have been
raised just before the final judgment, as the Premillennial view
teaches, because this would leave no room for the "little space”
of the Devil's loosing. But surely this objection rests, as Elliott
says, “upon a quite mistaken assumption of the requirements of
the preposition till”.
Further objections, as drawn from other Scriptures, have been regis¬
tered against this view. Alford and Barnes, indeed, have twelve arguments
against it, while David Brown contents himself with nine, but these argu¬
ments do not, however, seem to us formidable, while the exegetical diffi¬
culties which arise on any other view are seemingly quite insuperable.
Ver. 5. "The rest of the dead” ,—The rest of the pious dead, says
Barnes, inasmuch as only the martyrs and those who had not worshipped
the beast take part in the first resurrection and the reigning (St. Dus.),
and are therefore included exclusively in the first resurrection. For his
depleted idea of what this first resurrection means see under verse 4, page
697. Gebhardt says the first resurrection is that of the martyrs and all
the saints of this dispensation who had died, and that the second resurrec¬
tion is of the wicked dead and the saints of the Old Testament. By
others "the rest of the dead” is taken to mean the wicked dead only, in¬
cluding of course those who die during the Millennium, although nothing
is said in the text of this latter class. (F. A. El. Mil. Pet. Gab. Sim. Sco.
Mor. Tor. Moor.)
703
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“This is the first resurrection”, —Referring to those who were to
reign with Christ during the one thousand years.
Ver. 6. " Blessed and holy ”,—All saints are blessed and holy, but
here the words are used in an emphatic sense, the resurrection being the
precursor of a higher degree of blessedness and an eternal and complete
consecration of God. It is possible that the word “holy” has a special
reference to the priestly dignity and character coming forth then in com¬
plete glory.
“the second death”, —The casting into the lake of fire and brimstone
which is to take place at the final judgment. (See verse 14.)
“priests of God and of Christ ”,—A strong proof of Christ s coequal
Diety. (See Chaps. 1.6 and 5.10.) They shall be near to God and
Christ and most honorably employed in their service.
7 And when the thousand years are
finished. Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison, 8 and shall come forth to
deceive the nations which are in the four
corners of the earth. Gog and Magog,
to gather them together to the war: the
number of whom is as the sand of the
sea. 9 And they went up over the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the
camp of the saints about, and the be¬
loved city: and fire came down ’out of
heaven, and devoured them. 10 And
the devil that deceived them was cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where are also the beast and the false
prophet: and they shall be tormented
day and night 2 for ever and ever.
’Some ancient Authorities insert from God.
-Or. unto the ages of the ages
Vers. 7-10. THE LOOSING AND THE DOOM OF SATAN.
Ver. 7. Says Weidner, “In the providence of God, Satan is once
more permitted to turn his demoniacal power against the Church, that
the glory of God may be manifested in his irrecoverable overthrow. The
reign of the saints does not cease and it is highly probable that this final
struggle will be as brief as it is fierce." Stuart seems to think that the
reign of the saints will be somewhat interrupted, and commence again in
full glory and power after the overthrow of Satan with his great army of
Gog and Magog.
Ver. 8. “nations which are in the four corners of the earth ”,—
These are the nations which were left on the earth when the one thousand
years began, heathen nations who had not, of course, been in the anti-
christian army, all of which was destroyed. The question now arises
whether these nations had become subject to the kingdom during the
Millennium and then apostatized when seduced by Satan (F. Bar. Hen.),
or whether they were heathen nations in the far corners of the earth which
had never come into close contact with the Gospel, if at all. (A. L. V. D.
Ew. St.)
Stuart advocates the latter view, declaring them to be nations who
live beyond the boundaries of the Millennial empire. Says he, “Not an
intimation is given that they become apostates from the former profession
of Christianity, or that Christianity had ever spread among them. If
this were not so, how comes it that Satan finds no access to men anywhere
except in the four corners of the earth?"
Lange argues for the second view from the fact that Satan “goes out”
to deceive the nations and that these nations “go up” on the breadth of the
704
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
earth. The fact also that the word for " nations " is the usual one for the
heathen nations argues in its favor.
The only objection with any force against this view is that it limits
the Millennial kingdom of Christ and His saints to only a portion of the
earth, the same not being world-wide.
Gaebelein says that many during the Millennium will yield a feigned
obedience, submitting perhaps to the divine government through fear,
while sin is in their hearts and they long for the time when they can throw
off the restraint.
It is perhaps a combination of these last two views that ought to be
accepted, and this will appear the more acceptable when it is remembered
rhat the expression “the four corners of the earth" may, as Hengstenberg
affirms, be taken to mean not only the dwellers at the remotest corners
of the earth but all between those corners and the central point from which
the distance is calculated and may be equivalent to the expression in the
following verse, “the breadth of the earth". (See Judges 20.1,2; I Sam.
14.38; Isa. 19.3; 11.12.) It would then mean that Satan went every¬
where seducing the people and gathering his army.
Satan was, of course, loosed according to God’s divine method of
testing, just as he was allowed to enter the first Paradise.
"Gog and Magog ",— (See Ezek. 38 and 39, the final and complete
fulfillment of which seems to be here referred to). Magog was the son
of Japheth (Gen. 10.2), who with his brothers represented the northern
and north-eastern nations. Gog seems to have been their prince. (Ezek.
38.2.)
Josephus says Magog denoted the Scythians, and Hitzig says John
chose the expression on account of the Scythians being the most remote
people. Winer says Magog seems to be a collective name denoting the
sum of the peoples situated in Media and the Caucasian mountains con¬
cerning whom a vague report had reached the Jews. They are. of course,
used here in a mystical or symbolical sense as representing the final adver¬
saries of Christ led on by Satan in person.
"to the war", —i. e., the last great war foretold by prophecy.
"as the sand of the sea", —The usual Biblical expression for an in¬
numerable multitude.
Ver. 9. "went up", —Dusterdieck says, “A common expression for
a military expedition, the place of attack usually being an elevated position,
and here especially appropriate because of Jerusalem’s elevated position,
the approaching of which from any quarter of the earth, is in the idiom
of Scriptures called "going up". It may, however, be taken, together with
“over the breadth of the earth" (meaning Palestine) in accordance with
the Old Testament conception (Zech. 12.7,8), as the image of an invad¬
ing army overspreading all the land.
"encompassed the camp of the saints", —The saints are represented
as encamped about their beloved city to stand in its defense against the
enemies of God.
"the beloved city", —Says Dusterdieck, "That the ' beloved city ' is
the earthly Jerusalem,—not the new Jerusalem of Chap. 21.1,—is
acknowledged with substantial unanimity."
705
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Many (V. B. Kl. Aug. And. Hen. Bar.) take the city as a symbolic
expression for the Church, but this would seem to be an ordinary eluding
of the context. Barnes says, “all that is necessarily intplied is that there
will be a state of hostility to the Church of Christ which would be well
illustrated by such a comparison with an invading host of barbarians".
‘‘fire came down 1 ,— (See II Kings 1.10,12,14; Ezek. 38.22; 39.6).
To be taken literally or symbolically according to one's method of inter¬
pretation.
Ver. 10. “forever and ever ",—As strong an expression for absolute
endlessness as Biblical language affords.
11 And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat upon it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and
the small, standing before the throne;
and books were opened: and another
book was opened, which is the book
of life: and the dead were judged out
of the things which were written in the
books, according to their works. 13
And the sea gave up the dead that were
in it; and death and Hades gave up the
dead that were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their
works. 14 And death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, even the lake of fire. 15
And if any was not found written in
the book of life, he was cast into the
lake of fire.
Vers. 11-15. The Last JUDGMENT; THE DOOM OF THE UNBELIEVING.
Ver. 11. “a great white throne ",—It is “white 11 as symbolical of
the holiness and purity of its occupant and the judgment to be adminis¬
tered, and “great 11 , not so much in comparison with the throne of verse 4
(Sim.), as in correspondence with the great Being who sits upon it,
although by these descriptions this throne is distinguished from those in
verse 4. It is probably, though not absolutely, the same throne as in Chap.
4.2, upon which the Occupant now sits as a Judge.
“Him that sat on it 11 ,—This is by many referred to God, the Father
(A. D. Zu. Dus. Hen. Sim. Weid.), but it would seem best to refer it to
Christ, seeing here God in Christ as His Revealer. (F. B. L. Ew. St. Ei.
Gab. Bar. Mil.) The analogy of Christian doctrine throughout the Word,
as well as Rev. 21.5-8 seems to substantiate this interpretation. (See John
5.22,27.)
“the earth and the heaven fled away’ 1 , —This is elsewhere represented
as their consumption by fire, says Alford (II Peter 3.10-12). It would
seem from this that the final conflagration precedes the final general judg¬
ment, as Fausset says, although this conception is not necessarily impera¬
tive by reason of the order of the language used here. The reference in
any case is to the passing away of the present corruptible state and the
changing to a state glorious and incorruptible. Even the natural creation
shrinks back with awe and seeks to hide itself.
Ver. 12. “the dead 11 ,—i. e., the rest of the dead, as in verse 5.
Alford says, “That this judgment refers to the wicked dead alone there
can be no doubt from a plain exegesis of the word “dead 11 and from the
context. All the righteous who had been resurrected and caught up before
the Millennium as well as those who had died during the Millennium and
those who were alive at the close of the Millennium will be there also,
not, however, to be judged (John 5.24), but to have their judgment con¬
firmed. We must all appear, etc."
706
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Fausset says the number will consist of the wicked who have died
from Adam to the Millennium and the wicked who have died during the
Millennium and the righteous who have died during the Millennium.
The living believers, he says, are not especially mentioned, as they, just
before the destruction of the ungodly, or after it (having been preserved
from the judgment of fire which destroyed all the living wicked), shall
probably be first transfigured and caught up with the saints transfigured
at the first resurrection. Some think, however, that all believers dying
during the Millennium will be immediately glorified, given their resurrec¬
tion bodies as were those in the first resurrection. But whether this be so
or whether their bodies are to await the final resurrection, it would seem,
contrary to Fausset, no more appropriate for them to be judged than for
any other class of believers. They will doubtless be glorified, given
resurrection bodies either immediately upon their death or at the time
just preceding the final judgment and escape the judgment just as all other
believers, except in the sense mentioned a moment ago.
Our reasons for confining this judgment to the wicked dead only, the
living wicked having been destroyed, are as follows:
1. The word "dead” as used by John is used of the wicked only.
(See verse 5 and Chap. 11.18.)
2. The assurance of John 5.24 that the believer shall not come into
judgment.
3. The judgment takes place according to what is written in "the
books ”, and the books are expressly distinguished from the "book
of life”.
"books . . . and another book ”,—Hengstenberg says a name cannot
be written in both books. When erased from the books by the blood of
Christ, the name is then written in the other book.
Dusterdieck says, “According to the works which stand indicated in
the books, the names are or are not found in the Book of Life." The ques¬
tion naturally arises then: What use for the Book of Life at all, since the
record of the books decides the matter?
Alford says that both bear record independently of one another: the
books by their records and the book by the inscription or otherwise of
the name, the books being as it were vouchers for the Book of Life. Thus
also the majority (F. L. St. Dus. Bar. Sim.). Many others (Mil. Pet.
Gab. Weid.) agree with Hengstenberg and we are inclined to believe that
a plain and natural exegesis of the text favors this view. Note in addition
to the aboye three reasons, that it is only the "dead” who are judged, i. e.,
the wicked who are raised from their graves at that time, and they are
judged out of the "books”, which, as Hengstenberg says, are books of guilt,
condemnation and death.
The reason why the books relating to the wicked are more than one,
while there is but one Book of Life, is that names only are recorded in the
latter, while both names and works are recorded in the former, or it may
be also because there are few that are saved in comparison with the many
who are lost.
Ver. 13. The reference is to the fact that all the dead, botji unburied
(in the sea) and buried, rose again.
"death and Hades ”,—These appear personified as demoniacal powers
exercising sway over wicked men. This is not only proven by Chap. 6.8,
707
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
but by the fact that they are both in the next verse cast into the lake of
fire; another proof that the souls they were called upon to give up were
the souls of the wicked, i. e., that it was a resurrection especially of the
wicked dead that is referred to here.
Says Dusterdieck, "Since verse 5 is understood as applying to all
believers, this is only the resurrection of those who are to be delivered
to the second death."
“according to their works ',—The constant teaching of Scripture.
(See Rom. 2.6; II Cor. 5.10; Matt. 16.27.)
Hengstenberg takes “sea" in a figurative sense, maintaining that the
reference is to those who have perished in the battles of the nations. Milli¬
gan also takes the figurative view and refers it to the tossed and troubled
evil world. Not only are these views unnatural, but there is no good
reason at all for not taking the word in its literal sense, as the vast majority
do.
Ver. 14. The second death is the being cast into the lake of fire,
the intensified death, the coming of the wicked in their risen bodies to
eternal perdition. This explains Chaps. 2.11 and 20.6.
Ver. 15. Says Milligan, "Here, then, is the purpose and the only
one for which the book of life is spoken of as used at the judgment before
us. It was searched to see if any man’s name was not written in it."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth are passed away; and the sea is no
more. 2 And I saw a the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, made ready as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I
heard a great voice out of the throne
saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he shall 2 dweli with
them, and they shall be his peoples,
and God himself shall be with them,
Sand be their God: 4 and he shall
wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and death shall be no more; neither
shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor
pain, any more: the first things are
passed away. 5 And he that sitteth on
’Or, the holy city Jerusalem coming down
new out of heaven
2 Gr. tabernacle
3 Some ancient authorities emit, and be their
God
Vers. 1-8. The New Heaven and the New Earth.
"We now come," says Gaebelein, "to the revelation concerning the
final and eternal state of the earth." Says Weidner, "The final judgment
has taken place, as well as the final consummation of all things. What
follows in these last two chapters refers to the eternal kingdom of God in
the new heavens and earth. The purified and renewed earth has become
the abode of glorified humanity and the tabernacle of God is with man."
(Mor.) It would seem as though we must take these things literally
because there is no other way to take them.
the throne said. Behold, I make all
things new. And he saith, “Write: for
these words are faithful and true. 6
And he said unto me, They are come
to pass. I am the Alpha and the
Cmega. the beginning and the end. I
will give unto him that is athirst of the
fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit these
things: and I will be his God. and he
shall be my son, 8 But for the fear¬
ful, and unbelieving, and abominable,
and murderers, and fornicators, and sor¬
cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their
part shall be in the lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
*Or, Write, These words are faithful and
true
708
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Ver. 1. Now Isa. 65.17 and 66.22 have received their fulfillment.
44 a new heaven and a new earth", —The first creation had passed
away by being changed, and a renovated and purified creation had taken
its place.
" passed away", —The annihilation of the old creation is by no means
here necessarily implied, but only, as Alford says, “its passing away as to
its outward and recognizable form and its renewal to a fresh and more
glorious one.”
Though not here stated, it is evident that the method of this renewal
and purification is that described in II Pet. 7,10,12
"the sea is no more", —Inasmuch as the sea is a constituent part of
the old creation, we see no reason why the meaning of this passage should
not be that the sea passed away just as did the earth and the heaven and
that a new sea accompanied the new earth and the new heaven. Many
(F. A. Be. Bar. Sad. Aug. Gab. Weid.) take the removal of the sea in
an absolutely literal sense. Bede says it is dried up by the universal
conflagration, as Alford and Weidner seem also to imply. Sadler says that
three-fourths of the earth’s surface is to be no longer barren and unin¬
habitable. Andreas says navigation is no longer necessary.
Others (Mil. Sim. Wor. Hen. et al.) take the word symbolically. It
is the sea of peoples, the wicked restless world, and the turbulent state of
nations shall cease.
Ver. 2. "the holy city, new Jerusalem" ,—The new earth must have
a new metropolis. (See Gal. 4.26; Heb. 12.22 and Heb. 11.10.) The
name of the material city stands for the community formed by its inhabi¬
tants, says Alford. It is the glorified Church coming down out of heaven
upon the renewed earth.
"made ready as a bride", —Says Lange, “The new Jerusalem as the
sum of perfected individuals is the City of God, the Holy City, and in
its unity it is the Bride of Christ.” (See Chap. 19.7,8.)
Ver. 3. "a great voice", —Not perhaps the voice of God Himself,
but of one of the presence-angels as in Chap. 16.17 and Chap. 19.5.
"the tabernacle of God", —i. e., the place where God dwells. An
allusion to the tabernacle of the wilderness where God dwelt symbolically.
"is with men", —They, as it were, pitch their tents around His. Thus
the ancient promises are fulfilled. (Exodus 29.45; Lev. 26.11; Ezek.
37.27.)
"they shall be his peoples", —In the Old Testament it is "people";
here the many peoples of redeemed humanity are substituted for the single
elect nation; the world is substituted for Israel.
Ver. 4. "wipe away every tear", —i. e., gently like a mother from
the face of her child. It means, of course, that He will so constitute
things that no more tears will be shed.
"death shall be no more" ,—Sin being no more, its results also dis¬
appear. Morgan says, "Some regard the promise that death shall cease,
as applying to the Millennium; whereas the old prophets tell us that in that
period the sinner shall be accursed and the child shall die. But in this city
of God, on this renewed earth, the great ultimate place of the kingdom
709
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
of Christ after the thousand years, there shall be no death, pain, nor curse
because there is no sin. No temptation to sin shall ever be allowed to
assault the dwellers in that home of the future, as verse 27 clearly fore¬
tells." (See Chap. 20.14.)
"neither shall there be mourning" ,—i. e., because of death.
"nor crying", —i. e., because of violence and oppression.
"nor pain", —i. e., grievance or misery in general.
"first things are passed away", —The trials just mentioned belonged
to the "first things", to the old earth, and the old earth has passed away.
The reference is to the whole order of things which existed in the first
creation, especially the evils of this present age.
Ver. 5. "he that sitteth on the throne" ,—We would perhaps think
here of God (A. L. Sw. Sim. Sad. Mil. Dus. Hen. Gab. Weid.) rather
than Christ (St. Ew. Bar.). Simcox aptly remarks that the reference is
rather to the eternal throne of Chap. 4.2 than to the judgment throne of
Chap. 20.11, so far as the two can be distinguished.
"make all things new", —i. e. f an order of things to correspond with
the new creation. The former state of things when sin and death reigned
will be changed and the change will extend of course to everything.
"And he saith ",—Many make this an interlogue on the part of the
angel of Chap. 19.9. (A. B. Sw. Zu. Hen. Dus.) They call attention
to the fact that the second "said" of verse 5 is a different verb from the
first "said" of this same verse, and also from the third "said" of verse 6.
This and the nature of the command they think argue in favor of a
change of speaker, and so they refer the second "said" to the angel. This
is a possible construction, and yet we find ourselves asking, Why should
an angelic speech interrupt the voice of God from the throne, or an angel
corroborate the language of God Himself?
"words faithful and true", —The same sense as in Chap. 19.9, i. e.,
they may be relied upon with entire confidence.
Swete says, "These great sayings which concern the future of human¬
ity and the world must be seen to rest upon a secure basis. Men need to
be assured that they are not only worthy of confidence, but answer to
realities which in due time will enter into the experience of life, though
for the present they cannot be fully realized or adequately expressed."
Ver. 6. "he said unto me", —i. e., the one sitting on the throne,
which is the throne of "God and the Lamb". It makes little if any
difference whether we think of God or of Christ here speaking. Some (L.
Sim. Dus. Mil.) refer the speaker to God, while Barnes and Stuart think
of Christ, the latter calling attention to the fact that the promises are
such as Christ was wont to make.
"They are come to pass", —The same expression as in Chap. 16.17.
Lange refers this to the "words" just mentioned in the sense of their
highest realization. (Sw. Mil.)
Simcox thinks the reference is to the "all things" just mentioned,
and similarly Alford and others (Dus. Sad. Weid.), by whom it is taken
as the perishing of the old creation and the bringing in of the new. In
the ultimate all these views amount to one and the same thing.
710
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"the Alpha and the Omega”, —The reference is here perhaps to the
eternal Father as in Chap. 1.8, by whom the old was and the new shall
be. (D. A. L. Sw. Sim.)
“the beginning and the end”, —The beginning from whom all things
created sprung and the end to whose glory they all converge.
“fountain”, —Oriental thrones usually have a fountain of cool water
springing up, and from this John doubtless draws his picture.
“freely”, —Not abundantly, but “gratis", as the Greek implies.
“I will give unto him that is athirst”, —The meaning is not that He
would do this in the future, the words being spoken to those who had
already drunk of the living water, but the words as well as those of
the next two verses are written for the encouragement and warning of
believers yet in this life. “Added," says Fausset, “lest any should despair
of attaining to this exceeding weight of glory."
Ver. 7. “ He that overcometh” ,— (See Chap. 2.7,11,1 7).
“these things”, —i. e., the fulfillment of all these promises, the glories
of the New Jerusalem, the new creation with its immunities from sorrow
and death, the fullness and freeness of the water of life, the dwelling with
God and the consciousness of the filial relation spoken of in this verse.
Ver. 8. “the fearful”, —i. e., as contrasted with the overcomer.
Many refer these to the cowards in Christ’s army, the apostates, those men¬
tioned in Heb. 10.38. (B. A. D. St. Ew. Hen. Dus. Mil.)
“abominable” ,—Referring not alone to idol worship, but to the
foul and abominable sins committed in the licentious rites practiced in
idol-worship. (See Chap. 17.4 and Romans 1.)
9 And there came one of the seven
angels who had the seven bowls, who
were laden with the seven last plagues;
and he spake with me, saying, Come
hither, I will show thee the bride, the
wife of the Lamb. 10 And he carried
me away in the Spirit to a mountain
great and high, and showed me the holy
city Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, 11 having the glory
of God: her ‘light was like unto a stone
most precious, as it were a jasper stone,
dear as crystal: 12 having a wall great
and high; having twelve 'gates, and at
the 'gates twelve angels; and names
written thereon, which are the names of
the twelve tribes of the children of
Israel: 13 on the east were three 'gates;
and on the north three ’gates; and on
the south three 'gates; and on the
west three 'gates. 14 And the wall
of the city had twelve foundations, and
on them twelve names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. 1 5 And he that
spake with me had for a measure a
golden reed to measure the city, and the
"gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 1 6
'Or. luminary
a Gr. -portals
And the city lieth foursquare, and the
length thereof is as great as the breadth:
and he measured the city with the reed,
twelve thousand furlongs: the length
and the breadth and the height thereof
are equal. 17 And he measured the wall
thereof, a hundred and forty and four
cubics, according to the measure of a
man. that is, of an angel. 18 And the
building of the wall thereof was jasper:
and the city was pure gold, like unto
pure glass. 1 9 The foundations of the
wall of the city were adorned with all
manner of precious stones. The first
foundation was jasper; the second, 'sap¬
phire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth,
emerald: 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the
sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite;
the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz;
the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh.
4 jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And
the twelve ’gates were twelve pearls:
each one of the several 'gates was of
one pearl: and the street of the city was
pure gold, 'as it were transparent glass.
22 And I saw no 'temple therein: for
the Lord God the Almighty, and the
■Or, lapis lazuli
4 Or, sapphire
"Or, transparent as glass
•Or, sanctuary
711
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Lamb, are the °temple thereof. 23 And
the city hath no need of the sun, neither
of the moon, to shine upon it: for the
glory of God did lighten it, 7 and the
lamp thereof is the Lamb. 24 And the
nations shall walk 8 amidst the light
thereof: and the kings of the earth
bring their glory into it. 25 And the
a gates thereof shall in no wise be shut
T Or, and the lamb, the lamp thereof
'‘Or, by
by day' (for there shall be no night
there) : 26 and they shall bring the
glory and the honor of the nations into
it: 27 and there shall in no wise enter
into it anything B unclean, or he that
10 maketh an abomination and a lie: but
only they that are written in the Lamb's
book of life.
®Gr. common
1 P Or, doeth
Vers. 9-27. The Bride of the Lamb; the New Jerusalem Coming
Down out of Heaven.
Ver. 9. One of these angels had shown John the great harlot in
Chap. 17. Note the contrast of the bride here with the harlot there,
which is maintained throughout these opening verses.
Ver. 10. "in the Spirit ”,— (See Chap. 17.3).
"mountain great and high ",—Compare the parallel vision in Ezek.
40.1,2. While the city is descending from heaven to earth, John is carried
away to the mountain that he might have a nearer and fuller view of the
vision already communicated to him in verse 2. It is not said and prob¬
ably is not meant to be inferred that the city itself descends upon a moun¬
tain. “Any attempt to spiritualize the description of this city,” says
Campbell Morgan, “is out of harmony with the whole proper prophetic
treatment of the book of Revelation. We may no more discuss this than
the resurrected body of Jesus, which was palpable to the touch of Thomas,
yet was spiritual enough to stand in the midst of His Disciples without the
opening of doors.“
Ver. 11 . " the glory of God", —Not merely a divine and celestial
brightness, but the glorious presence of God Himself, the Shekinah abiding
in her. The splendor which surrounds the presence of God, the “light
inaccessible and full of radiance’' cuts off all need of sun or moon.
“ her light", —The effect of the divine glory shining in her.
“jasper stone", —Perhaps the diamond, as what we know of jasper
is opaque and not clear as crystal; nor is it one of the most precious stones,
unless reference is made to some particular crystalizing jasper selected for
its beauty, splendor and diaphanous nature.
Ver. 12. “ a wall great and high", —As may be seen in verse 17. A
type of the absolute security of the heavenly city.
“twelve gates", —Corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel, and
denoting also, as Stuart says, free and easy access. (See Ezekiel 48.31.)
“twelve angels", —Stationed there to set forth the divine and eternal
security of the city, and to preserve the image of a well-ordered city. It is
not that they are stationed there as “guards” (St. Ew.) because the New
Jerusalem is no longer menaced by enemies. The case does not call for
speculation. Angels are described as “ministering spirits sent forth to
minister to them who are heirs of salvation”, and as Craven says, “veri¬
table angels ministering at the gates of that glorious abode would add to
its glory, and might perform other offices which in our present condition
it is impossible for us to conceive.”
712
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
“twelve tribes of the children of Israel ",—Spiritual Israel of course
is here symbolized by the names of the actual tribes of Israel, the whole
people of God being in the mind of the Seer. (A. L. F. Sw. St. Dus. Bar.
Mil. Weid.)
Ver. 13. The gates stand open on all sides, says Swete, and so
represent the catholicity and universality of the new Society.
Ver. 14. “twelve foundations’, —Probably each portion of the
wall between the gates, each section thus representing one vast foundation
stone. (A. D. Sw. Dus. Sad. Sim. Weid.) Lee thinks of twelve layers,
one on top of the other, and each layer or course running clear around the
city. This magnifies the splendor a bit and is adopted by Stuart.
“on them twelve names of the twelve apostles' ,—Because they by
their doctrine founded the Church and in this respect it rests upon them
as an immovable foundation. The Apostles were the first leading and
most important instruments in building up the Church of Christ and erect¬
ing His spiritual temple, and they are here honored as the founders.
Ver. 15. (See Ephesians, where, however, the ruling idea is a dif¬
ferent one.) The measuring shows that the discourse is of something
real, and that the city is not to be resolved into mere thought and imagina¬
tion.
Ver. 16. It is impossible to decide whether the entire circumference
of the city is 12,000 furlongs (F. A. L. V. St. Sad.), or that each side
was 12,000 furlongs in measurement (B. Sw. Zu. Hen. Dus. Sim. Mil.
Weid.), but it would seem that the latter is the plainer meaning of the
text. Literally interpreted this would mean that the city is about 1500
miles in breadth and length and height. That the city is one vast cube
is typical of its perfect nature, setting forth the love of God. as Williams
says, "Infinite and perfect on every side".
Swete is assuredly correct when he says, "Such dimensions defy
imagination and are permissible only in the language of symbolism." And
so Stuart, "Everything shows that a literal exegesis in such a case as the
present, excepting merely so far as to get a proper idea of the grandeur
and the congruity of the image, is entirely out of the question."
Alford says the height of the city may include the hill on which the
city is built; but there is no evidence that the city is built on a hill, and
besides the highest mountain in the world is little more than five miles
high.
Sadler agrees with De Wette in seeing a certain looseness in the use of
the word “equal", and in thinking that while the length and breadth are
equal to each other, the height is equal all around and is only 144 cubits,
as stated in the next verse. But the account given is that of a vision and
inasmuch as the description must be taken symbolically there is no need
to attempt to reduce the enormous dimensions given here, as no reduction
could bring them within the bounds of verisimilitude, and no effort in
that direction is required. "The stupendous height, length and breadth
being exactly alike imply its faultless symmetry, transcending in glory all
our most glowing conceptions. The city being measured implies the
entire consecration of every part, all things being brought up to the most
exact standard of God’s holy requirements." (F.)
713
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Ver. 17. “measured the wall”, —The wall seems to be introduced
rather for the purpose of completing the idea of a city. Some (Mil. Will.
Weid.) think the measurement of the wall refers to its thickness, but we
see no reason to depart from the natural inference of the text; the length
of the wall is, of course, identical with the length and breadth of the city,
and this measurement would therefore naturally be of the height of the
wall. (F, L. St. Bar. Dus. Sim.) The wall is but 216 feet high, less
than the height of the walls of Babylon. Lange reminds us of the fact
that the wall being so much less than the height of the city should occasion
no difficulty inasmuch as all is to be taken symbolically. The glory of the
city is not thus obscured. The unnatural and grotesque difference between
the height of the city and of the wall is that which had led many to think
of the thickness of the wall being intended by its measurement.
“the measure of a man, that is of an angel”, —Not that "the measure
of a glorified man is like that of an angel" (Eb.), nor that in this matter
of measure men and angels use the same standard (A.), but that the meas¬
ure of the angel (who makes his measurement for men) is like the measure
of men (Dus. Hen.), which is really the same as the explanation of
De Wette, Stuart and Sadler, namely, that the angel adopted a human
standard of measurement.
Ver. 18. “the building of the wall”, —i. e., the superstructure built
upon the foundation.
“jasper”, — (See verse 11).
* 'pure gold, like unto clear glass”, —The most precious metal known,
but in this case transfigured and glorified.
Ver. 19. “foundations”, — (See verse 14).
“adorned”, —Not that they are merely beautified with precious stones,
but as the following description shows, that the foundations themselves
consisted of these stones.
Vers. 20,21, together with verse 19, describe the city, as Dusterdieck
says, "with the greatest glory whereof human fantasy is capable".
Ver, 22. "no temple therein”, —The temple was the place where
God dwelt, but here all is temple. As Alford says, "The inhabitants need
no place of worship, the object of all worship being present; they need no
place of sacrifice, the great sacrifice Himself being there." There is no
conflict here with Chaps. 3.12 and 7.15, for there the language is figura¬
tive and means they shall dwell in the divine presence and behold His glory.
But in the New Jerusalem God and the Lamb are everywhere and so the
whole place is to the worshippers what the temple of old was to him
who visited it, and they shall see his face (Chap. 22.4), no veil between
Him and them—no inner sanctuary to be approached but once a year.
Ver. 23. God and the Lamb, being everywhere and always sur¬
rounded with a light that is full of glory, give a radiance far exceeding
that of the sun and moon. There is no occasion to individualize the
members of the sentence, making the glory of God to be the sun and that
of the Lamb to be the moon. (See verse 11 and Isa. 60.19.)
Ver. 24. (See also verse 26, and Chap. 22.2.) There are several
views as to the meaning of these verses;
I. Simcox, Stuart and others think that these expressions are only a
714
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
part of the imagery, the conception of John being modeled by the
representations of the Old Testament prophets, and the New Jeru¬
salem is conceived, as in Isa. 45.14; 49.23; 60.10,11, as an imperial
city receiving the tribute of the world, simply because that was the
form of world-wide sovereignty recognized and understood in the
prophets' times.
II. Fausset, Lange, Milligan, Weidner and many others think the refer¬
ence is to the nations and kings who lived on this earth before the
renovation and before the judgment on Satan and his army, and
who were believers at that time, and now are pictured as walking
in the midst of the light of the Holy City and bringing their glory
and honor into it. In verse 27 it is said distinctly that none shall
enter the city save those whose names are written in the Lamb's
Book of Life, and therefore the names of these nations and kings
must have been written in these books.
Says Fausset, “The kings of the earth, who once had regard only for
their own glory, having been converted, now in the new Jerusalem
do bring their glory into it to lay it down at the feet of their Lord
and their God."
Dusterdieck says, “In the tone and the language of the ancient
prophets, John describes the people who are to find entrance into the
future city, and here the Gentiles are expressly designated as those
who, according to the ancient prophecies, are to find admission into
the city. The Gentiles, just as the Jews, receive full citizenship in
the new Jerusalem, and in like manner partake of the blessed glory
of that holy place."
III. Others, again, conceive of these nations and kings as those who will
still be living on this renewed earth outside of the city and in whom
there still remains original sin. "They are," says Sadler, "outsiders,
and yet friendly, evidently holy in a certain sense and fearing God":
while Craven asks, "May it not be that the great truth is adumbrated
in this revelation that even after the new creation the human race
is to be continued under the government of the glorified Church, and
ever propagating a holy seed such as would have been begotten had
Adam never sinned?"
Alford says, "Among the mysteries of this new heaven and new
earth this is set forth to us; that besides the glorified Church there
shall still be dwelling on the redeemed earth, nations organized under
kings and saved by means of influences of the heavenly city."
But we ask:
(a) If the whole earth is purified and renewed by fire and there is
a new earth, "wherein dwelleth righteousness", how are we to
conceive of people unclean in any respect dwelling in it, who
shall in no wise enter into the city?
(b) How did these nations survive the judgment and the passing
away of the old earth and the old heaven, or, if they did not
exist prior to that time, where did they come from? They
could not be the offspring of those in the city, for these neither
marry nor are given in marriage.
715
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
IV. Gacbclcin and Elliott refer the whole section (Chap. 21.9 to Chap.
22.5) to the period of the Millennium. Gaebelein says, “We have
followed from Chap. 19.1 events which are chronological, but with
the ninth verse of Chap. 21 we are brought back once more to the
Millennial state. The coming down mentioned in verse 10 precedes
the one mentioned in verses 2-3 by a thousand years, the chronologi¬
cal order at verse 9 being interrupted. The coming down mentioned
in verses 2-3 is undoubtedly to the new earth, but here in verse 10
the holy city comes down to be over, still above, the earth. The
holy city of verse 10 will be seen by the inhabitants suspended in the
heavens, and human eyes will look up to behold the flashes of glory
never ceasing. It is from this city of verse 10 that Christ and His
saints shall reign during the Millennium, and the twelve Apostles
judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19.28). No doubt there
will be communication between this Holy City, the heavenly New
Jerusalem, and the earthly Jerusalem."
This last view, if it can be substantiated, does furnish the easier
explanation of the nations that “s hall walk by its light”, and of the kings
of the earth who shall “bring their glory and honor unto it” (Gaebelein
reads “unto" in place of “into” of the Revised Version), for these are
the saved nations of the Millennial times, who not only walk in its eternal
and undiminished light, but bring their glory and honor unto it, i. e., bow
in homage in its hallowed presence.
Elliott defends, in general, this view at great length. He says:
1. In Chap. 19 the twenty-four elders gave in glad shout the an¬
nouncement of two things, (a) the beginning of Christ’s reign,
and (b) the presentation of the bride. The first of these is
immediately seen in Chap. 20.4, but where is the second unless
it be this new Jerusalem of Chap. 21 coming down out of heaven
as a bride adorned for her husband? Surely there cannot be one
thousand years between the bride's preparing and her presenta¬
tion.
But may not the marriage of the Lamb and the bride have taken
place in Chap. 19 at the Rapture, and this coming down of the
bride in Chap. 21 be a new manifestation of the bride?
2. There are kings on the earth who bring glory into the holy city
and men in need of healing, and therefore the reference must be
to Millennial times.
But may not the answer to this be found in general view number
II, and also in the fact that the word “healing” may be trans¬
lated “health”. (See explanation of this word under Chap. 22.2.)
3. It was a Vial angel who showed the vision to John and therefore
it must have followed right after the Vial judgments and so during
the Millennium, while the fact that John fell at the feet of the
angel in each instance indicates that the reference must have been
to the same thing.
But these conclusions by no means necessarily follow.
4. Dan. 7.18 dates the saints' everlasting reign from the fall of the
Antichrist, and the everlasting reign of Rev. 22.5 ought to be
co-temporaneous with it and not begin one thousand years later.
716
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
But there need be no discrepancy here. The reign of the saints
beginning with the beginning of the Millennium is everlasting,
but at the close of the Millennium when earth has been trans¬
figured and eternity has begun there certainly can be nothing
contradictory in saying that the saints shall continue to reign or
reigij forever and ever.
5. Paul says that creation's deliverance from bondage is at the mani¬
festation (the Rapture) of the sons of God, and this is without
doubt at the beginning of the Millennium, and therefore the new
earth and new heaven of Chap. 21.1 cannot be at the end of the
Millennium.
This is one of Elliott’s strongest arguments, and the only reply
is that given by a number of scholars, namely, that there was a
partial glorification of heaven and earth at the beginning of the
Millennium and a fuller and complete one at the close.
6. Isaiah’s new heaven and new earth commence at the restoration
of the Jews at the opening of the Millennium, and John's being
the same, must begin at the same time.
But are these two necessarily the same? Gaebelein puts Isaiah’s
on earth and John's above the earth, both beginning at the same
time, but Isaiah’s ending in one thousand years and John's con¬
tinuing “forever and ever”.
Keil argues against the restoration of the Jews, and makes the
reference both of Isaiah and John pertain to the same thing
beginning after the Millennium and continuing through eternity.
Even if Jewish restoration be admitted may not Isaiah’s predic¬
tion have been realized during the Millennium and John's begun
upon afterward, upon an earth wholly transformed and fitted for
the abiding place of the eternal city, which he calls the New
Jerusalem ?
Elliott accordingly says the throne upon which Christ sits during
the Millennial reign is the Great White Throne and this judgment
lasts a thousand years, the books being opened before Him, as
stated both in Daniel and Revelation. The Judgment continues
right on through the Millennium, there being two great and
special acts connected with it, one at the beginning and the other
at the close, the Seventh Trumpet at the beginning of the Millen¬
nium being the time when the dead were judged.
It must now be noted that there is a big difference between the view
of Gaebelein and that of Elliott. Elliott refers the Holy City, the New
Jerusalem of Chap. 21, both of verses 1,2 and verse 10, to the earthly
Millennium while Gaebelein refers the Holy City of verse 10 to the New
Jerusalem above the earth, and that of verses 1,2 to the same New Jeru¬
salem coming on down at the close of the Millennium.
As against the views of both these authorities it may be said that
Chap. 20.11 plainly affirms that the old earth and heaven that was fled
away from the face of Him that sat on the Great White Throne, and then
in the next chapter, following chronologically, John “saw a new heaven
and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away“,
and to this new earth John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descend.
This ought to settle the New Jerusalem here mentioned as post-millennial.
717
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Furthermore, so far as Elliott’s view is concerned, the fourth verse
of the twenty-first chapter distinctly says of this New Jerusalem that
"death shall be no more", whereas it is .an undisputed fact that death does
continue throughout the period of the Millennium.
To the views of both these authorities there can be only one answer,
and it is given well by Weidner, “This Holy City which John saw coming
down from God out of heaven (Chap. 21.10) is the same city which is
referred to in Chap. 21.1,2, and belongs to the new heaven and new
earth there mentioned. The final consummation has taken place, and on
this renewed earth there shall be no other inhabitants save the glorified
saints, which compose the Holy City Jerusalem, even the bride, the wife
of the Lamb (verse 9). Any other interpretation is contrary to the whole
context, and belongs to the crudities of exegesis.”
Our own conviction is that the second (II) general view given is the
much to be preferred one.
Alford remarks, “It follows then that these nations and these kings
are written in the Book of Life; and so perhaps some light may be thrown
on one of the darkest mysteries of redemption. There may be—I say it
with diffidence—those who have been saved by Christ without ever form¬
ing a part of His visible organized Church.” But this, says Fausset, is “a
rash speculation above what is written, and entirely uncalled for by the
text.”
Ver. 25. "not shut by day", —i. e., never, seeing it is always day,
for there shall be no night there.
Ver. 27. Blunt says, “This verse may be said to be retrospective,
referring to the times preceding the last judgment, since all evil was then
destroyed.” It does not mean that such persons, at the time to which the
vision refers, were living outside the Holy City and could not enter in
because they were unclean.
“The smallest part of the meaning of this verse,” says Morgan, “is
that which lies on its surface. It does teach that no unclean person and
no liar shall be able to pass into the ctiy; but it teaches vastly more. How
came the mystery of sin into Eden? He who worketh abomination made
a lie and tainted the brightness of the garden; and the stream of evil out¬
worked into all human history. But into this fair city, Christ’s all-
glorious bride, the earthly dwelling place of a heavenly people, shall no
unclean thing come. No temptation to sin shall ever be allowed to
assault the dwellers in this home of the future. This truth reveals a
Divine purpose more glorious than even the blessedness of the Millen¬
nium.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
! And he showed me a river of water
of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out
of the throne of God and of *the Lamb.
2 in the midst of the street thereof.
And on this side of the river and on
'Or, the Lamb. In the midst of the street
thereof, and on either side of the river, was
the tree of life 6r*c.
that was *the tree of life, bearing twelve
'manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every
month: and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. 3 And
there shall be 4 no curse any more: and
3 Or, a tree
*Or, crofs of fruit
4 Or, no more anything accursed
718
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be therein: and his ‘servants shall
serve him; 4 and they shall see his face;
and his name shall be on their fore¬
heads. 5 And there shall be night no
B Gr. bondservants
more; and they need no light of lamp,
neither light of sun; for the Lord God
shall give them light; and they shall
reign *for ever and ever.
*Gr. unto the ages of the ages
Vers. 1-5. The River AND THE TREE OF LIFE IN THE NEW JERU
SALEM.
These verses are a continuation and a completion of the description
of the glory prepared for believers in the New Jerusalem.
Ver. 1. " river of water of life”, —The description depends, as no
doubt does Ezek. 47.1-12, upon the prototype Gen. 2.10. Stuart thinks
John had in his mind only the passage in Ezekiel, while Barnes thinks he
drew his picture from Genesis, But why not believe that both these rivers
were in the mind of John as he gave us this description.
Of course, the expression is symbolical. The waters are those of
peace and spiritual life; those drinking of these waters are immortal and
will never die.
This symbol has often, and with no little propriety, been interpreted
of the Holy Ghost, of whom water is one of the most frequent Scriptural
emblems. (Li. Ca. Ger. Blunt.) These authorities call attention to the
fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, no less than from the
Father, just as the waters here proceed from the throne of the Father and
the Son, God and the Lamb, this throne being one and the same. (See
Chap. 3.21.)
“proceeding out of the throne’’, —The idea is strictly in accordance
with oriental imagery. Here is symbolized the uninterrupted continuance
of life derived by the saints ever fresh from God who is the fountain-
source of all grace.
“the throne of God and the Lamb”, —Dusterdieck says it is the
Lamb’s no less than God’s because only through the mediation of the
Lamb is the participation of believers in the eternal life of God made
possible.
Ver. 2. The punctuation of the Authorized Version is much to be
preferred to that of the Revised Version. If the words “in the midst”
belonged to verse 1 they would more naturally have been placed before the
word “shewed” than after the word “Lamb”. Again, the words "on
either side of” are adverbial rather than prepositional. The better reading
is that of the margin of the Revised Version, "In the midst of the street
thereof, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life ..."
Stuart and Barnes think of the river running through the city, with
a street running parallel on each side of the river and then the trees planted
on either side of the river between the river and the street. It is better,
however, to think with others (A. Dus. Sei. Weid.) of the river flowing
through the broad street, a row of trees being on either bank, the tree
(without the article, and therefore best taken collectively) being therefore
manifold but of course all of one and the same kind. It was certainly
not as Durham thinks, namely, that the tree was in the midst of the
river, extending its branches to both banks.
719
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
"twelve manner of fruits ”,—It is not clear whether twelve kinds of
fruit are intended, signifying, as Ebrard says, “the ever new enjoyments
of the blessed” (A-V. R-V. A. F. Eb. Ew. Sad.), or whether twelve
crops of fruit are intended (L. St. Mil. Sim. Bar. Dus. Weid.). We prefer
the latter of the two interpretations; in fact it is almost demanded by the
third clause of the verse, “yielding her fruit every month" . The general
idea of the passage is, as Milligan says, rather that of continuous nourish¬
ment than of variety of blessings.
Two questions present themselves: What is the fruit for? and. What
are the leaves for? The last question is answered by the text, but to the
first question no explanation is offered. The fruits, many aver, are for
the sustenance of the glorified bodies of the saints. (St. Sw. Dus. Sad. Mil.
Weid.) “In eternity, the continually growing fruits of the tree of life
serve the blessed for food.” (Dus.)
“According to all analogy of God’s dealings, the various forms of
life have to be sustained by nourishment, and here God provides the water
of life as well as the tree of life to sustain the eternal life of His people.”
(Sad.)
“leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations ”,— (See Chap.
21.24,26).
1. Alford thinks here of “nations outside” and “dwelling on the
renewed earth, organized under kings and saved by the influences
of the heavenly city”. (Thus also D. Bl. Ew. Eb. Zu. St.)
2. Fausset takes severe exception to Alford’s view and says, “The
'nations' mentioned are those which have long before, viz., in
the Millennium, become the Lord’s and His Christ's. The leaves
shall be the health-giving preventive securing the redeemed against,
not healing them of, sickness.”
Similar to this is the view of Milligan, who says, “It is impossible to
think that the nations here spoken of have yet to be converted. They
have already entered the New Jerusalem, and that they are healed can
signify no more than this, that they are kept in constant soundness of
health by what is there administered to them.”
This view of Fausset, which is no doubt correct, is adopted by the
majority (Dus. Sim. Bar. Mil. Weid.). The reference, says Weidner, is to
“the converted Gentiles who are among the glorified saints”.
Says Morgan, “On the authority of a Greek scholar of repute we
may substitute the word health for healing. Healing pre-supposes disease,
while health does not. In the perfect kingdom, where sin is cast out, the
nations can have no need of healing. This and the previous descriptions,
as well as verses 3, 4 and 5, which follow, are passing glimpses of the
glory of a kingdom on earth, beyond the Millennium, the Great White
Throne, and the final casting out of evil. This is a picture of the fullness
of the times when all things shall be subdued to the sway of Jesus.”
Bengel holds that the reference is to the conversion of the heathen
to whom in this life the Gospel had not been preached (!) while Heng-
stenberg thinks it refers to the conversion of the heathen of the present
age (!). Gaebelein makes this to be still a part of the Millennium scene,
which closes with verse 5 of this chapter.
720
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
DustercLeck well remarks, “The expression, Yor the healing of the
i nations/ is as little to be pressed, in the sense that a still present sickness
i of the heathen were pre-supposed, as it is to be inferred that the tears
1 which God will wipe away from the blessed (see Chap. 21.4) are the
! signs of pains still endured in the eternal city."
Ver. 3. “no curse any more", —The word “curs?" is perhaps meant
las a translation of that rendered “utter destruction " in Zech. 14.11, of
i which this verse is doubtless a reminiscence. It means literally “no more
i an accursed thing"; for every evil has been judged and received its merited
i punishment, and there is therefore nothing upon which the curs: or
Almighty God can or needs to rest. (See Chap. 21.4.)
“his servants shall serve him”, —In ministration and holy service they
.shall perform their priestly functions forever in His presence. (See Chap.
>7.15 and Chap. 21.3.)
Ver. 4. “ they shall see his face ",—They shall be admitted to His
immediate presence, an honor seldom granted to private individuals by
earthly sovereigns. This is the reward of the pure in heart. (Matt. 5.8.)
“his name on their foreheads ', —Herein is conveyed the idea of entire
;consecration to the service of God; they belong absolutely to Him. (See
Chaps. 14.1; 7.1-8; 2.17.)
Ver. 5. “And there shall be night no more",—A repetition of
Chap. 21.25 stated there to indicate that the gates of the city shall be
: continually open so that the redeemed can enter in continually with their
|gifts in order to magnify their King; stated here to show that having
! entered they shall suffer no interruption in their joyful service, and shall
need no nightly rest to recruit their weary frame for the service of the
; following day, says Milligan.
“they shall reign forever and ever", —In a higher sense than during
I the Millennium. (A. D. St. Wei.) (See Chap. 3.21.)
Sadler asks, “Over whom shall they reign?" and then answers, “Per¬
haps over countless worlds which God created, and will create."
With this verse the Apocalypse proper closes and the Epilogue begins.
6 And he said unto me. These words
are faithful and true: and the Lord, the
God of the spirits of the prophets, sent
his angel to show unto his 'servants the
things which must shortly come to pass.
7 And behold, 1 come quickly. Blessed
is he that keepeth the words of the
prophecy of this book.
8 And I John am he that heard and
s:.w these things. And when I heard
and saw, I fell down to 2 worship before
the feet of the angel that showed me
these things. 9 And he saith unto me,
See thou do it not: I am a fellow-
servant with thee and with thy breth¬
ren the prophets, and with them that
keep the words of this book: “worship
God.
'Or. bond servants
: See marginal note on Chap. 13.12
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not
up the words of the prophecy of this
book; for the time is at hand. 11 He
(hat is unrighteous, let him do unright¬
eousness “still: and he that is filthy, let
him be made fikhy “still: and he that is
righteous, let him do righteousness “still:
and he that is holy, let him be made
holy “still. 12 Behold, I come quickly;
and my 4 reward is with me. to render
to each man according as his work is.
1 3 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the
end. 14 Blessed are they that wash
their robes, that they may have “the
right to come to the tree of life, and
may enter in by the “gates into the city.
3 Or, yet more
4 Or, wages
"Or, the authority over. Comp. Chap. 6.8
*Gr. fortals
721
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
15 Without are the dogs, and the sor¬
cerers, and the fornicators, and the mur¬
derers, and the idolaters, and every one
that loveth and 7 maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things s for the
churches. I am the root and the off¬
spring of David, the bright, the morn¬
ing star.
1 7 *And the Spirit and the bride say.
Come. And he that heareth, let him
say, Come. And he that is athirst, let
him come: he that will, let him take
the water of life freely.
T Or, doetk. Comp. Chap. 21.27
"Gr. over
•Or, Both
18 I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of
this book, If any man shall add 10 unto
them, God shall add 10 unto him the
plagues which are written in this book:
1 9 and if any man shall take away from
the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away bis part from the
tree of life, and out of the holy city,
"which are written in this book.
20 He who testifieth these things
saitb, Yea: I come quickly. Amen:
come. Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus 1 *be
"with the saints. Amen.
10 Gr. ufom
"Or, even from the things which are written
,3 Some ancient authorities add Christ
“Two ancient authorities read with all
Vers. 6-21. Final Testimony, INVITATION, WARNING, PROMISE
and Benediction.
Ver. 6. "And he said unto me ",—Who is speaking here? The
angel of Chap. 1.1 (L. Eb. St. Mil. Weid.), or the angel of Chap. 21.9
(D. Bl. Vol. Bar. Dus. and the majority), or “he that sitteth on the
throne ' as in Chap. 21.5, or Christ, as in verse 16. The second view, the
angel of Chap. 21.9, is perhaps the right one.
“these words', —i. e., the whole book. (L. Mil. Dus. Bar. Weid.)
“faithful and true ",—The absolute certainty that the testimony John
had received is trustworthy and true, and could be fully relied upon.
“the spirits of the prophets ',—Are we to understand the spirits of
the prophets themselves (A. F. St. Dus.), or the Spirit of God by which
the prophets were inspired (D. Mil.) ? The latter view is doubtless the
correct one. By " spirits” is meant, of course, the spirit of each prophet,
which God by His Holy Spirit inspires and directs.
“his servants", —i. e., believers in general, by the instrumentality of
John through the visions as interpreted by the angels.
“shortly come to pass ",— (See Chap. 1.1).
Ver. 7. “1 come quickly ",—Words spoken no doubt in corrobora¬
tion of the “shortly come to pass" of the previous verse, and spoken by
the angel in the name of the coming Christ. (A. Sw. St. Dus. Bar. Weid.)
Milligan thinks that Christ Himself speaks.
“keepeth the word of the prophecy of this book ",—The word “keep-
eth" may mean “to remember", “to keep in the mind" (St.), or it may
mean “to obey" (Mil.). The latter idea is, no doubt, the main one,
although in it the former must be included. Stuart supports this view
from the fact that the record is mainly prediction and precepts to be obeyed,
and says the blessings to be derived from this storing of the mind with
the saying of this book are those which arise from the promises and en¬
couragement which are contained in the book. The book referred to is
not the whole Bible (Sad.), but the now all but completed roll lying on
the Seer's knee.
Ver. 8. “fell down to worship ",—Ebrard is entirely wrong in
thinking that John is here merely recapitulating what had taken place in
Chap. 19.10, Auberlen says that rapturous emotion, gratitude and
722
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
adoration at the prospect of the future glory of the Church transported
John out of himself so that he all but fell into an unjustifiable act.
Fausset says it is not likely that John when having been once re-
proved for his intention of worshipping an angel would fall a second time
into the same error; but the explanation given of this passage by Fausset
is rather weak and cannot be accepted. He says in the former instance
John fell down at the feet of the angel to worship him, but that here he
fell down at the angel's feet to worship, that is to worship God. It is
better with others (St. Bar. Dus.) to think that the words, "I come quick¬
ly", which he had just heard might easily have given rise in John’s mind
to the suspicion that the one speaking was Christ Himself, although per¬
haps Milligan is right, when he says, 4 ‘We need not wonder that John
should do it again. Such had been the glory of the revelation that a
mistake of this kind might easily be made more than once." If the angel
speaking here was the same as the one in Chap. 21.9, it looks like John
would have known he was not the Christ.
Ver. 9. (See notes on Chap. 19.10 where almost the identical words
are found.)
Ver. 10. The book is not to be sealed up because it is to be put to
immediate use, the time being at hand. Unlike the book of Daniel (Dan.
12.4), which was to be sealed because the time was for many days, it
is to be diffused, read and explained.
"the time is at hand ",—There is not a moment to be lost, the
Lord is at hand. Let all who believe prepare themselves for His coming.
Ver. 11. (See Ezek. 3.27). "The punishment of sin is sin and
the reward of holiness is holiness," says Fausset.
Alford has well commented on this verse, "The saying has solemn
irony of it (compare Matt. 26.45), the idea being that the time is so short
that there is hardly any room for any change, but down in its depths the
lesson conveyed is, 'Change while yet there is time'."
Ver. 12. Jesus is now plainly speaking in His own name. It is
entirely out of keeping with the claims that are made to regard the speaker
as the angel, as a few have done. If the angel should be regarded as the
speaker, he must of course be considered as speaking, not in his own, but
in the name of Jesus. But all interpreters of note, regard the speaker as
Jesus Himself.
"according as his work is ",—It is faith alone that saves us, but we
are rewarded according to our works.
Ver. 13. (See notes on Chaps. 1.8,17 and 21.6). These are plainly
the words of Christ. (L. F. Sw. St. Sad. Bar. Sim. Weid.) Dusterdieck
thinks God is the speaker, or rather seems to be in verse 13, because those
expressions were used of God elsewhere; he also thinks that Christ is the
speaker of verse 12, or rather seems to be. Because this seems to be the
case, he says it will not do to represent the angel as speaking first in the
name of Christ and then in the name of God, and to think of Christ and
God themselves as actually speaking introduces too many changes in the
speakers; therefore Dusterdieck thinks that John himself speaks these words
of verses 12 and 13, "after the manner of the ancient prophets, and thus
723
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
in two compendious Divine declarations fixes the fundamental thoughts
of this entire prophecy". Dusterdieck says it is true that these words were
in other places spoken by God Himself, but this is no reason why Christ
cannot use the same declaration of Himself. (See Rom. 11.36 and Col.
1.16.)
Ver. 14. " wash their robes’ —This reading must be preferred to
that of the Authorized Version, "keep his (God’s) commandments”. All
whose sins are forgiven and whose names are therefore written in the Book
of Life, have a right to enter into the city and eat of the tree of life.
Ver. 15. Dusterdieck, Benson and some others take the words in the
sense of a command. "Out with the dogs," etc. But this not only destroys
the clearness of the antithesis which the region of the lost presents to Para¬
dise, but furthermore, the dogs, etc., have already been cast out.
" dogs’ , —The dog was unclean and therefore odious to the Jews,
and is used in this sense as representing impure, filthy persons.
Ver. 16. Jesus attests the good faith of His angel messenger, refer¬
ring now perhaps to the angel of Chap. 1.1. (St. Bar. Weid.)
"tintu ycu”, —Some (Hen. and Dus.) refer this to the prophets, but
it is more likely that it is to be taken in the sense of the “servants of God"
as in verse 6, ministers and people in the seven Churches, representative
churches, and through you, to testify to all Christians of all places. (F. L.)
“for the churches’’, —Not the seven churches only, but the Christian
churches throughout the world. The Authorized Version reads "in the
churches". But the preposition, and the more important and proper mean¬
ing is “for the churches”, on "in reference to the churches", on "on account
of the churches". (St. Zu. Bar. Dus. Hen. Weid.)
"A book for the congregation; not a book merely for the few and for
a select circle, is this book of prophecy," says Ludhardt.
“the root”, —Not the root in the sense that David sprang from him,
as a tree does from a root, but in the sense that he was the "root-shoot" of
David, or that He Himself sprang from David, as a sprout starts up from
a decayed and fallen tree. The meaning is that He was the true Messianic
progeny of David foretold in Scriptures, i. e., the product of the root.
“the offspring”, —Plainly stating what the other word set forth in a
figure of speech. He is the root and the offspring, the beginning and the
end of the whole economy associated with the Davidic family.
“the bright, the morning star”, — (See Chap. 2.28, where the mean¬
ing is quite akin to this, this being an interpretation of that.) He brings
in the everlasting day. He is the star that never sets.
Ver. 17. By some this verse is taken as a reply to Christ’s previous
words, spoken by the Seer in the name of the Holy Spirit and the bride,
the Church. (A. D. Eb. Hen. Dus.) This is perhaps the case, as it would
be unusual to find Jesus thus addressing Himself, "Come, Lord Jesus", for
this, the word “come” in this instance really means.
Lange, on the other hand, refers the whole verse to John as the
speaker, remarking that John utters his own "Come, Lord Jesus" in verse
20, while the latter part of our verse seems to demand the Lord Christ as
the speaker.
724
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Barnes makes the speaker throughout the entire verse to be Christ
and avoids the difficulty mentioned above by making the word "coma"
mean an invitation to the Gospel throughout the entire verse.
Milligan thinks of the Church speaking in the first clause, of John
speaking in the second clause, and of Christ speaking in the last two
clauses. But such an interchange of speakers in a single verse can hardly
be appreciated.
"the Spirit ",—The Holy Spirit who inspires the prophets and
dwells in the Church, the bride herself.
"he that heareth ",—This may be taken as hearing the cry of the
Spirit and the bride (A. Sad.), or as hearing the contents of this book
wherever it is read (St. Sw.), which latter is perhaps the better idea.
Milligan says that “these words must be taken in the same sense as
the similar words in Chap. 21.6. The thirst is of one who has already
been refreshed for deeper, fuller draughts. The persons referred to are
believers within the city, within the reach of the water of life." Lange,
however, we think, is nearer the truth when he says, “It is the last full
evangelic tone in the New Testament.“ It is the invitation given for the
last time to the weary and heavy laden to come and drink of the water of
salvation.
Ver. 18. "every one that heareth", —i. e., those reading the book or
present where it is read. It was thus designed to be read aloud in the
churches.
It is not said who the speaker is here but the majority of the com-
mentators (B. St. Mil. Wor. Dus. Bar. Weid.) refer him to John himself.
Swete says, “It is not uncommon for writers to protect their works by
adding a solemn abjuration to the scribes to correct the copies carefully,
and in no case to mutilate or interpolate the original. If the solemn
warning of the present verse was intended in this sense, it has signally
failed, for in no other book of the New Testament is the text so uncertain
as in Revelation. It is, however, no error of judgment that is condemned,
nor merely intellectual fault, but the deliberate falsification or misinter¬
pretation."
Says Wordsworth, “Here is a prophetic protest against the spurious
Revelations forged by false teachers in the name of the Apostles." Stuart
says, “The practice of tampering with books of such a nature must have
been somewhat frequent in the region where the Apocalypse was pub¬
lished; otherwise there would be something not perfectly natural in the
severity of the interdict before us."
Simcox says, “The curse denounced is on those who interpolate
false doctrines in the prophecy, or who neglect essential ones; not on
transcribers who might unadvisedly interpolate or omit something from
the text. The curse, if understood in the latter sense, has been remark¬
ably ineffective, for the common text of this book is more corrupt, and
the true text oftener doubtful, than in any other part of the New Testa¬
ment."
Some (V. Bl.) say the threat is directed against careless transcribers,
while, others (D. Ew.) say it is against oral inaccuracies of repetition, and
725
THE REVELATION OF JOHN
Dusterdieck and Alford agree with Swete in referring it to deliberate falsi¬
fication. Hengstenberg says it is against anything that affects the actual
kernel of the book.
Fausset has remarked, “As in the beginning of this book (Chap. 1.3)
a blessing was promised to the devout, obedient student of it, so now at its
close a curse is denounced against those who add to or take from it.”
Sadler thinks that by " book” the whole New Testament was meant.
But when John wrote there was as yet no united whole New Testament,
and he could not therefore have had this in mind, and the reference is to
be immediately referred to this book of Revelation.
Ver. 19. Says Alford, “This is at least an awful warning both
to those who add to it by irrelevant and trifling interpretations."
Ver. 20. Christ is the speaker in the first part of the verse and John
in the last. The Lord Jesus answers, as it were, the cry of the Spirit and
the bride and him that heareth. They had bidden Him come (verse 17),
and here He replies that He is coming quickly. Christ Himself here bears
testimony, that is, vouches for the truth of what John had disclosed.
Ver. 21. The following benediction is the usual form of benedic¬
tion in the epistles of the New Testament, and it no doubt has special ref¬
erence to the blessings disclosed and promised in the book before us. With
the benediction of grace the Apocalypse opens and with the same benedic¬
tion it closes.
For those who desire the satisfaction of knowing wnat authorities uphold the various
interpretations, a list of those consulted and quoted in the preceding pages is here appended.
The economy of space makes necessary the use of abbreviations.
A. Alford
Ab. Abcn Etta
Aba. Abarbentl
At . Afrlcaoua
A1. Alexander
Ale. Alcaaar
Am. Ambrose
Amm. Ammon
An. Angus
And. Andreas
Aq. Aqulla
Ar. Aretiua
Are. Arelas
Au. Auberlen
Aug. . Augastine
Aurn. August!
S. ...
Ba. .
Bah.
Bal. .
Bar.
Bark.
Bau.
Baud.
Baum.
Be. ..
Bee.
Ben.
Ber. .
Bert.
Bes.
Bez.
Bi. .
Bic.
Bil.
Bis. .
Bl. . .
Bla.
Bio.
Bo. .
Boe.
Bol. .
Bon.
Bor.
Bos. .
Bou.
Boy.
Br. ..
Bra.
Bre.
Bred.
Bret.
Bro.
Brou
Bru.
Bu. .
Bui.
Bun.
Bur.
. Bengel
... Baumgarten
. Bahr
.Baidu In
. Barnes
. Barkeyus
... Bauer
... Baudissen
. Baumlein
. Bede
. Beckhaus
........ Benson
. Bertholdt
. Bertheau
. Besser
.. Beza
. Blrka
.... Blckersteth
. Bilroth
.... Blackstone
.... Bloomfield
. Bochart
. Boehme
. Bolten
. Bonnet
..... Borne man
. Bossuet
. B ouman
. Boyd
. Brlghtman
. Braune
. Brentiua
... Bred encamp
. Bretschneider
Brown (David)
.... Broughton
. Bruckner
. Buddeus
. Bui linger
. Bunsen
. Burger
C. Calvin
Ca. Calovius
Cal. Calmet
Cali. Calixtns
Cap. Cappellus
Car. Carptovius
Carp. Carpenter
Cas.Caspar 1
Cast. Cast alio
Ch. Chambers
Cha. Chaldee
Chal.Chalmers
Che. . Cheyne
Ch* - . . Chrysostom
Chri. Christian!
Cl. Clark
Cla. Clarius
Cle. Clerieua
Co. Cowles
Cocceius
Con. Conybeare
Cor. Corrodl
Cora. Coray
Cr. Credner
Cra.
Gra.
Crav. ..
Gri.
Cre.
Gro.
Cum, • ■ ■
Gui.
Cun. ...
Cy.
H.
Cyp. »..
Ha.
Hah.
D.
. DeWette
Ham.
Da.
Har.
Dat.
Hart.
DkU< • • •
Haa..
Deli •«♦ ♦
Hav.'...
Den. ...
He.
Der. ...
Heb.
Di.
fleg.
Die.
Hei.
Din.
Hein.
Ooi »iii
Het.
Oodi 4 ««
Hen.
.. Hengslenberg
Dodd. ..
Hend.
.... Hendewerk
Dor.
Heng.
Dr.
Hens.
Dre. ...
Her.
Dri. ...
Hes.
Dru.
Heu.
Dus. ...
He urn.
. Heumann
Dw.
Hey.
... Heydenreich
Hi.
. Hilary
E.
Hil.
.... Hilgenfeld
E&,
Hila.
.... Hilarianus
Eb.
Hit.
. Hitzig
Ec, * • • ■
Ho .
Erd i • •
Hoe.
Ei.
Hof.
El. --
. Elliott
Hoi.
.... Holzhausen
Els, • •«4
Hols.
ECDi 4 • • •
Holt.
Ep.
Hor.
Eph. ...
Hot.
Er.
How.
Era ....
Hu..
Eyd. ...
Hun.
Enii • •»i
Hus.
Ea .
Eu.
Ire.
Eut
. Euthymius
It.
Ev.
Ew. ...
J.
. Jacobus
Ja.
F.
Jac.
Fa.
Jam.
Fai. ...
. Fairbairn
J an.
Fi.
Jar. ..
FI.
. Flatt
Jer.
Fie.
. Fleck
Jo.
Fo.
Jow.
For. ...
Ju.
Fr.
Jus.
Fra. ...
Fri.
K.
. Keil
Fro. ...
Ka.
... Kamphausen
From. .
Kae.
Fu.
. Fuller
Ke.
. Keim
Fue. ...
Kel.
. Kellogg
Ken.
G.
Ki
la ...
... Kirkpatrick
Gab. ...
Kim.
Gar ....
Kl.
. Klieforth
Gau. ...
Kle.
Geb. ...
Klee .
. Klee
Gebh. ..
Kli.
Gel. ....
Klo.
... Klostermann
Geo. ...
Klu.
Gtr • • •««
Kft.
Gerh. ..
Kna.
Ges. ...
Ko..
Gi. ....
. Gill
K oc.
. Koch
01.
Koe.
Gla. ...
Kol.
. Kollner
Glo. ...
. Gloecken
Kop. ..
Gloe. ..
Koa. ...........
Go6 # • • •
Kr.
.... Kranichfeld
Gor. ...
Kra.
Gr.
Kre.
727
Ku.
Kui.
K nr.
. Kurtz
Ky.
L.
La.
Lac.
Lact.
Lam.
Lap.
Lau.
Le.
Len.
Ley..
Li.
. Lightfoot
L11 ■
. Lillie
Lim.
Lin.
Lo.
Lor.
Lu.
Luc.
Lud.
Lum.
Lut.
Lutt.
Lu/-. ..
Ly.
. Lyra
M.
Ma.
Mac.
Mack.
Mai.
Mai.
Mar.
. Marck
Marc.
Mat.
Mau.
May.
Me.
McC.
Mc * .
. Mede
Mei.
Mel.
Men.
Mi.
Mil.
Mo.
Mol.
. Moll
Mold.
. Moldenhauer
Moo.
Moor.
Mor.
Mos.
Mu.
Mue.
. Muenster
Mul.
Mus.
My.
N.
.Newton, Isaac
Na.
Ne.
Nea.
Neu.
New .
,Newton, Bishop
Ni.
Nie.
No.
Noe.
Noy.
O.
Oe.
Oec.
. Oecumenius
Of• •>••«»««
OJ.
Oo.
Or.
Ori.
Ort.
Os.
Ow.
P.
Pa.
. Packard
Pau.
Pe.
Pei.
Pel.
Pell .
. Pelt
Pel.
. Petingill
Peta.
Pf.
. Pfaff
Pfl.
Ph.
Pho.
Pi.
PI.
Pli.
. Plitt
PIu.
Po.
Poo.
Por.
Pot.
. Pott
Pre.
Pri.
Prim.
Pu.
R.
. Riddle
Ram.
Ramb.
Re.
Red.
. Redepenning
Rei
I\ vlt
Reic.
Reu.
Ri.
. Rickli
Rie.
Rig.
Rin.....
Ro.
. Rohling
Rob.
Roe.
Ros....
Ru.
Rup.
Ry.
. Ryle
S.
Sa.
Sad.
Sal.
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